Update - Thursday, May 16, 2019
What happened?
During the night of Sunday, May 12, 2019, the chlorination system at the Bay Street Street Chlorination Station failed, causing unchlorinated water to enter the water system. An alarm which normally notifies the District of low chlorine levels also failed. These failures were discovered during routine testing on Monday morning.
Why did it happen? What was the cause?
The District of Tofino is converting our water treatment facilities from chlorine gas to liquid chlorine. During the conversion, one of the chlorine gas tanks unexpectedly stopped feeding into the water system. The switch to liquid chlorine is meant to ensure safer, more reliable treatment of the District’s water supply with upgraded failsafe procedures.
What did we do to protect the public?
Chlorine residual tests are carried out five days a week at eight locations throughout our community, as well as at the treatment facilities.
Once the deficiency was discovered, water treatment works were immediately shut down at Bay Street. District staff checked residual chlorine at the reservoirs and water was manually chlorinated with liquid chlorine. A system-flushing program was also initiated to re-establish residual chlorine levels throughout our entire water system. This flushing has continued over the last few days.
The District notified the general public through multiple communication channels including radio, email, signage, social media, and our website. Sensitive populations and system users such as the Hospital, School and food processing establishments were directly notified by phone and with in-person contact.
In close partnership with Island Health, District staff began bacteriological sampling from five locations for analysis at an independent lab.
What can the public expect, right now and later?
We are continuing to flush and check residual chlorine levels throughout the District, and we are monitoring the treatment facilities. Two sets of water samples are now being analyzed by an independent lab in Comox. We expect to have the results of this testing by 3 PM on Thursday, May 16th. Once we receive confirmation that these samples meet drinking water standards, the boil water advisory will be lifted.
We will also carry out an additional set of bacteriological samples after the boil water advisory has been lifted to ensure the continuous distribution of safe drinking water.
Tofitians are entitled to expect safe, high quality drinking water; we apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate the understanding and attention of the public.
We will update the public by 4:00 PM on Thursday, May 16th, 2019. |
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