Halifax Water says a boil water advisory affecting more than 200,000 customers in the Halifax Regional Municipality could last up to two days.
In a news release early Tuesday, Halifax Water said there is a possibility of unchlorinated drinking water in the following communities: Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Upper Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Fall River, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield and Herring Cove.
It says water can still be used, however it should be boiled for at least one minute before using water for drinking, preparing infant formula, making ice cubes or juices, washing fruits or vegetables, cooking, brushing teeth, or anything for human consumption.
Residents can find out if their address is under a boil water order by using this interactive map.
The advisory will be in place until further notice.
Jeff Myrick, communications manager for Halifax Water, said there was a power outage at the JD Kline (Pockwock) Lake Water Treatment Facility on Monday evening, and caused an electrical issue inside the plant.
Planned power outage caused issue
He confirmed to CBC News the issue was caused by a planned Nova Scotia Power outage for the Hammonds Plains area around 10:30 p.m. AT.
Water continued to be treated, but lacked chlorine disinfection for approximately 30 minutes. The interruption allowed a limited amount of unchlorinated water to enter the system.
“The question now is where it is in the system and when levels will start to spike up again,” Myrick told CBC’s Information Morning Nova Scotia. “As it moves through the system it will mix in with other chlorinated water.”
He said the boil water advisory will last approximately two days, based on a similar incident at the same facility last July.
The utility said it is monitoring the water quality and consulting with the provincial Environment Department and the medical officer of health.
Chlorination is the last phase of the treatment process before it leaves the facility, said Myrick.
He said it’s not yet clear why the backup generator did not kick into gear after the outage.
Send kids to school with water bottle
The facility, located in Upper Hammonds Plains, serves 201,000 people in the municipality.
Halifax Regional Centre for Education is urging parents to send their child to school with a filled water bottle.
It said water fountains at schools in the affected areas will be taped off, and all taps will have signs posted. Bottled water will also be provided.
Previous electrical issue
A boil water advisory was issued last July after an electrical issue at the same water treatment facility.
That issue caused widespread disruptions throughout the municipality, prompting businesses and daycares to close and leading hordes of people to flock to grocery stores for bottled water.
Myrick said Tuesday’s advisory is similar in terms of its impact on customers, but the cause is different. He said it was an external power interruption that caused Monday’s outage, whereas last July it was caused by an internal electrical issue.
He said many improvements were implemented to the system following the last summer’s incident.
“We were actually just a few days away from completing an installation of a system to automate the transition to chlorine redundancy and that would have avoided this issue altogether,” Myrick said.
“It’s real unfortunate that we were so close to having the redundancy in place … but we are apologizing, of course, to all our customers that this has happened and we can appreciate that this is significantly impacting their lives.”
Myrick noted the electrical issue will not impact the work being done to install the new system.
