By Geoff Smith

Water advisory expected to last through weekend

Jul 7, 2016 | 3:20 PM

An official with the provincial water agency said a precautionary drinking water advisory for the city of North Battleford will likely remain in place through the weekend.

The advisory was issued Wednesday, July 6 as a result of a failed valve during scheduled maintenance on the city’s water tower. The failure resulted in roughly 50,000 gallons of treated water leaking into the system.

Patrick Boyle, a spokesman for the Water Security Agency, said while that’s a relatively small leak in relation to the 750,000 gallon capacity of the water tower, it was enough to ask people to boil water as a precaution. He said the water supply must pass some tests before the advisory can be lifted.

“There’s a few tests roughly 15 minutes apart, and then those go through a process to be sent off to the provincial lab. Once those are cleared the advisory can be lifted,” Boyle said.

He explained the tests can’t be done until the work has been completed.

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“I believe the forecast for the work to be done was Sunday (July 10), so we’re probably looking at any time after that,” Boyle added.

While the water had already been treated, Boyle said the valve failure and leak was outside the “practice and procedure” that had been set in place, which is why the advisory was issued.

During the city-wide advisory, people are advised to bring any water meant to be consumed to a rolling boil for at least one minute. That includes water to be used to wash dishes, clean fruits and vegetables, or brush teeth.

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco. Concerns regarding this story can be addressed to Geoff at 306-446-6397.