Boil-water notice came late, some residents say
CBC News
Posted: Oct 17, 2011 9:17 PM ET
Last Updated: Oct 17, 2011 10:46 PM ET
Some West Island residents who had to boil their water on the weekend say they got the word a little too late for comfort.
The boil-water advisory is no longer in effect, but Michael Lord said Monday he is annoyed it took so long to let everyone know their tap water might be unsafe to drink.
He says he received a phone call hours after an advisory was issued late Friday afternoon telling people not to drink the water.
The City of Pointe-Claire issued the water advisory after discovering that chlorine levels were lower than normal. Tests over the weekend suggest the chlorine drop was linked to decomposition of algae and "other organic material" in Lake St. Louis, where the water comes from, the City of Pointe-Claire said in a release Monday.
Such decomposition can raise the level of ammonium nitrogen in water, and on Friday, the concentrations were at an all-time high, likely helped by warm temperatures.
An advisory against drinking the water was issued Friday for "preventive purposes" to about 100,000 people in Baie d'Urfé, Beaconsfield, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Kirkland and Pointe-Claire, southern parts of Senneville and southern parts of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
Massive amounts of chlorine were added to the water Friday night, and a boil-water advisory was issued the next day while the system was flushed.
Patricia Robinson, who was upset she was notified late, says she plans to stick with bottled water for a while, just in case.
Pointe-Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie says all the proper steps were taken, including launching automated phone calls, after the water problem surfaced last week. But the city says it will review its procedures.
The city said it will also talk to experts to make sure the same water problem doesn't happen again.
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