Halifax, surrounding area under boil water advisory after power failure at facility

CITYnews halifax / By Dan Ahlstrand

An estimated 201,000 people connected to the JD Kline (Pockwock Lake) Water Treatment Facility were placed under a boil water advisory Monday evening after an internal power failure at the plant allowed a limited amount of unchlorinated water into the system.

As a result, residents in Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield, Portions of Fall River, Windsor Junction and Herring Cove are being asked to boil their water for at least one minute before drinking it.

A map of the impacted areas is available here.

Areas shaded in blue were under a boil water advisory on Monday July 1. (Halifax Water)

Halifax Water advised  impacted customers to boil all water for at least one minute before using water for:

• Drinking
• Preparing infant formula
• Making ice cubes or juices
• Washing fruits or vegetables
• Cooking
• Brushing teeth or
• Other activity requiring human consumption

This boil water advisory will be in effect until further notice. A fact sheet on domestic water usage reads that containers should be sanitized before using them to store safe water.

Other answers to common questions are included on the website.

Halifax Water Spokesperson Jeff Myrick told CityNews that two backup generators at the facility didn’t operate correctly after the outage, and they are investigating why they failed.

“Everything is well maintained at that facility,” said Myrick. “We have had numerous severe weather events where the power has been disrupted from external sources, but this is the first time we have seen anything from internal sources.”

Myrick said the system was offline for 25-40 minutes while the power was down, and that section of untreated water worked its way through the system. Crews are now working to flush it out.

“Ideally, within 48 hours,” Jeff Myrick said. “In reality, we have to be able to comply with provincial requirements so at this point, we keep testing and hoping for the best to hope we can get it out.”

Several businesses decided to close on Tuesday as they were without water. “This is the busy season for the industry, it’s supposed to be 26 degrees today, it’s tough,” Natasha Chestnut, Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia spokesperson, said.

“Businesses are losing money; they are not getting those sales today, but it also means all of those staff aren’t getting paid,” Waye Mason, HRM District 7 Councillor, said. “I’m really interested to find out what when wrong, and what we are going to do so it doesn’t happen again.”

Halifax Water said it will continue monitoring water quality and are closely consulting with Nova Scotia Environment and the Medical Officer of Health.