Boil-water advisory lifted for Hay River and nearby communities

A precautionary boil-water advisory for Hay River, Enterprise, Kakisa, and the Kátł’odeeche First Nation has been lifted, just shy of 50 days after it was announced on September 2.

Nobody became ill as a result of the water quality over the past two months, the chief environmental health officer said in a news release issued on Tuesday morning.

The affected South Slave communities, which have been under boil-water advisories for more than 100 days this year, were asked to boil their water as it had high turbidity, or muddiness.

Turbidity levels have “dropped to acceptable levels in treated water from the water plant” Tuesday’s news release stated.

Normal use of drinking water can resume, although health officials recommended residents and businesses run drinking water and water-using equipment – like ice-making machines and coffee makers – for one minute before use.

It is also suggested people change point-of-use filters such as Brita filters, run water softeners through a regeneration cycle, drain and refill hot water heaters, and drain and clean water-holding tanks now the advisory has been lifted.

The first boil-water advisory ran from May 13 to June 16, followed by another from June 19 to July 6.