Published online at CTVEdmonton.ca on May 13, 2012.
Linda Hoang, CTV Edmonton: Sunday, May 13, 2012
Boil water advisory lifted in Fort Saskatchewan
A boil water advisory for the city of Fort Saskatchewan was lifted Sunday night.
The advisory was issued Saturday after a reservoir failure left the city of nearly 20,000 people without water for an hour.
The failure created an opportunity for a contaminant to enter into the system, though the city says there is no indication of the water being contaminated.
As a safety precaution, Alberta Health Services issued the advisory until water samples could be tested.
Just after 5:00 p.m. Sunday, officials confirmed that results from water quality tests showed water in the area was safe to consume.
In a release Sunday, Mayor Gale Katchur explained why the city’s siren system was not used to notify residents of the advisory.
“The siren is only used when a shelter in place emergency occurs. If we use it for everything, it will not be effective when we need it for a shelter in place emergency, which this clearly was not,” Katchur said.
Grant Schaffer, the city of Fort Saskatchewan’s public works director, said a failure in the control panels caused a loss of power in the reservoir, shutting down the electric pumps.