Yellowknife (Sep 03/04) - City officials are investigating complaints from several residents on Con Road, who became sick Wednesday night after chlorine was accidentally flushed into their drinking water.

Sandra Bradbury said she knew something was wrong with her water as soon she took a sip.

"My mouth was burning so bad that I phoned Emergency (at the hospital), and they gave me Poison Control," said Bradbury.

They told her to drink some milk and phone Public Works.

Her husband and son were also feeling a little ill after drinking some concentrated juice they made from the water.

Another son went door-to-door to the neighbours to warn them not drink the water. Bradbury said she also phoned city councillor Blake Lyons, who lives two doors down from her.

She said he told her something was wrong with his water, too, after he checked. Lyons couldn't be reached for comment.

She said city personnel responded quickly and, after testing the water, were shocked by what they found.

Public Works director Greg Kehoe wasn't sure how much chlorine was released, but it was much more than the minute amounts found in normal tap water.

"They said it was 'way over the limit," said Bradbury. "They couldn't even read it, it was so high."

Public Works was alerted to the problem around 6 p.m. after receiving residents' phone calls complaining of acrid smells and tastes coming from their taps.

The city subsequently flushed out the pipes leading to the homes with fresh water.

Bradbury kept a sample of the water and intends to bring it to the Taiga Laboratory for further testing.

Although she was happy about the city's quick response, Bradbury said she wonders how many other people were notified other than through her son.

"I was kind of surprised they didn't go further and knock on everybody's doors and say, 'don't drink the water'," said Bradbury.

"All I seen was them go to Blake's house and my house."

Kehoe said contractor Volker Stevin was attempting to flush out recently-installed water lines on Rycon Drive when they inadvertently opened a valve, which released heavily chlorinated water going to the taps of several homes on Con Road.

It appears the company broke protocol because they failed to contact the city first, Kehoe said.

"What should happen is the contractor works with Public Works any time they want to test the line."

"It doesn't appear that they did, but there are a lot of arms to Public Works, and they may have told someone that was going off shift."

If they find Volker Stevin broke the rules, Kehoe said they would certainly be speaking with them, but likely won't be imposing any penalties.

"We generally have a good working relationship with them." he said.

"Instances like this invariably happen over the years. The important thing is to try and resolve this as quick as possible."

Volker Stevin could not be reached for comment.