Greater Vancouver boil-water advisory lifted
Last Updated: Monday, November 27, 2006 | 3:43 PM PT
CBC News
About a million people who have been under a boil-water advisory in Greater Vancouver for 12 days have finally been told it's safe to drink from the taps.
The Greater Vancouver Regional District issued the advisory on Nov. 16, following a major rainstorm that created unacceptable levels of silt in the Capilano and Seymour reservoirs on the North Shore.
Tap water is now safe to drink in Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver and West Vancouver.
(CBC)
It was lifted the following day for about a million residents of the Lower Mainland. However, the remaining million residents in Vancouver, Burnaby, North Vancouver and West Vancouver didn't get the all-clear until Monday.
Medical health officer Dr. Patricia Daly said turbidity levels in the Seymour watershed have dropped low enough to allow people to drink unboiled, unbottled water.
"With the continuing downward trends in turbidity, and with nearly 1,000 water tests for bacteriological results being negative, apart from one false positive, the medical health officers believe that the water is now safe for people to drink.
"So we're advising all our hospitals, our long-term care facilities, our day cares in schools that they no longer need to serve bottled water, and the public can resume drinking water from their taps."
Last week, one sample taken at the University of B.C. showed positive for E. coli, but it turned out to be a sampling problem and not a problem with contaminated water coming out of the tap.
The Capilano reservoir, which was closed off last week, is still too turbid to drink and remains closed.
The boil-water advisory had created a run on bottled water at stores across the Lower Mainland.
Daly advises people who have not been running their taps to do so for three minutes to flush out any residual murky water in their pipes.
She also warns that the water coming out of the tap may not be as clear as it could be.
"It may still be cloudy for a period of time as the clear water starts to come through the system, but we still believe it's safe to drink."
