Boil-water order lifted for three neighbourhoods

A boil-water advisory was lifted Sunday for three of six northwest communities where sediment was found to have contaminated drinking water supplies.

Residents in the Sherwood, Hamptons and Hidden Valley communities will no longer be required to boil their drinking water, health officials said Sunday night.

“Water services is pleased to report that our systematic efforts to flush and test the distribution system has allowed us to restore water quality in these three communities,” said Dan Limacher, director of water services for the City of Calgary.

Where the ban has been lifted, residents are advised to run their taps for five minutes before consuming any water.

Officials also recommend that tap aerators and screens be washed in hot, soapy water and disinfected in a bleach solution before use.

Water filters should be disinfected according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

The advisory remains in effect for the communities of Nolan Hill, Sage Hill and Kincora, and is expected to remain until mid-week, Limacher said.

City and provincial health officials continue to probe how sediment entered an underground water reservoir last week, contaminating the drinking water for some 4,000 residents in the northwest.

Crews worked around the clock to flush the silt from city pipes before lifting the ban late Sunday for the three most southerly communities affected.

“Our efforts the last few days have been a very systematic approach to flushing the system, and our flushing efforts have moved from south to north,” Limacher said.

Sales of bottled water at northwest businesses were steady Sunday as residents stockpiled for the days ahead.

Sheila Mckeating spent part of her day boiling a few extra litres of water for her husband and two dogs.

“We just finished boiling up a lot of water so that there’s a good supply for the next few days, enough for our animals to have drinking water and for us to brush our teeth,” said Mckeating.

“You don’t realize just how much water you use, and what you use it for, until something like this happens.”

Officials estimate it has been close to 30 years since the city has experienced a similar water-quality issue.

First Nations leader George Stanley said Calgarians looking for advice on how to cope without access to safe drinking water can turn to their aboriginal neighbours for advice.

“For us, it’s a normal complaint,” said the AFN regional chief who points to ongoing issues with water quality on reserves from Rocky Mountain House to Slave Lake.

“They’ve been under advisories in those areas for such a long time — off and on, off and on — it’s become the norm.”

Stanley said dilapidated water treatment infrastructure on reserves is largely to blame for the problem.

More than two dozen reserves in Alberta have some kind of water advisory in place.

Stanley said the problem won’t go away if the government doesn’t make it a priority.

“I know the headaches (Calgarians) are going through,” Stanley said.