Atikokan residents asked to boil water

Atikokan residents have been urged to boil their drinking water after regular samples were found to contain harmful bacteria.
“We issued a boil-water advisory because we had adverse water in test results,” confirmed Bill Limerick, environmental team leader for the Northwestern Health Unit.
The boil-water advisory went into effect last Friday when strains of total chloriform and fecal chloriform were found in the town’s drinking water.
It will remain in effect until two consecutive samples come back without any sign of the bacteria.
“I’m hopeful that by Thursday or Friday this will have passed,” said Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown. “We’ve flushed all the lines and we’ve stepped up the chlorine.
“We’re supposed to have a great filtration plant. I thought we wouldn’t be having these problems,” he added.
But for now, the Northwestern Health Unit will continue to urge residents to sterilize their water.
“We’re telling them that the water has been contaminated and they have to boil it for five minutes,” said Limerick.
“Some of the people feel that they can remove the bacteria by filtration. You can’t, you have to boil it,” he stressed.
The bacteria can cause intestinal infections leading to ‘flu-like symptoms.
The water is being tested at a Thunder Bay lab, and the next results should be available Friday.
The Northwestern Health Unit has been encouraging increased concern for the province’s water. And with the recent E. coli outbreak in Walkerton and other incidents reported in the media, residents are becoming very cautious when it comes to their drinking water.
“We started education and awareness and raising the bar three years ago,” said Limerick. “People are very concerned. They’re not taking it for granted.”
Boil-water advisories also have been issued by the Northwestern Health Unit in Vermilion Bay, Hudson, Balmertown, Madsen, and Cochenour.