UPDATED: January 20, 2018 – 09:18 MT
A boil-water advisory affecting the Northwest Territories community of Lutselk’e has been lifted.
Residents were advised to boil water for at least one minute before drinking it in a territorial government advisory issued on Tuesday, following concerns that unchlorinated water may have been delivered. No associated illnesses were reported and the advisory was presented as a precautionary measure.
On Friday, the advisory was lifted following steps to ensure water had been properly chlorinated and tested.
Chlorine is widely used across Canada to disinfect drinking water. Provinces and territories are obliged to ensure drinking water is adequately treated before reaching residents’ homes.
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Dr Andre Corriveau, the NWT’s chief public health officer, told Cabin Radio chlorination of Lutselk’e’s water supply may have been inadvertently halted at an unspecified point earlier in January.
“Somebody found the chlorine pump was turned off when they went to work in Lutselk’e on Monday,” said Corriveau on Tuesday. “MACA helped them turn it back on by phone and they were sending somebody there today to look into testing of the water.
“We don’t know for how long it was happening and so we wanted to provide some advice. It looks like some unchlorinated water may have been delivered. It depends how long it may have been turned off, and nobody seems able to provide that information.”
In lifting the advisory on Friday, the territory said water delivered to Lutselk’e was now being adequately chlorinated, and tests of samples had shown no presence of bacteria in treated water.
