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Boil water advisory

Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, May 21, 2007

HAY RIVER - Residents of Hay River have been advised to boil water as of May 16.

Due to spring break-up, there has been a significant rise in the source water's turbidity level - a measure of the amount of suspended solids, such as silt and clay.

The town's treatment plant cannot reduce the turbidity to an acceptable level and the overall effectiveness of treatment cannot be guaranteed.

The advisory - from Duane Fleming, the NWT's chief environment health officer with Stanton Territorial Health Authority - is precautionary. No illnesses had been reported in the community as of Thursday.

Residents should boil water for at least one minute, including water used for making infant formulas and juices, and for washing vegetables and fruits. Water used for brushing teeth and washing hands should also be boiled.

On Thursday, Fleming said it is hard to say how long the advisory will be in effect.

"It's unpredictable," he said. "It could last a day or a week or longer."

Terry Molenkamp, the town's senior administrative officer (SA0), said turbidity can be reduced a certain degree by treatment.

"But when the water is really dirty, there is only so much we can do," she said.

Molenkamp said the increased turbidity is caused by the Hay River's high, fast water, which is stirring up the bottom and gathering debris from the banks.

"We're just going to have to wait it out," she said.

The SAO noted water from Hay River is also trucked to the Hay River Reserve, Enterprise and Kakisa, and all those communities should boil it.

The last boil water advisory in Hay River was in 2003, and Molenkamp cannot recall another since the early 1990s.

"They're not a common occurrence," she said.

Environmental Health is monitoring the situation with the municipality, and updates will be provided on a daily basis until the advisory is lifted.

Fleming noted, as of Thursday, no other boil water advisories were in effect in the NWT.