Boil-water advisory lifted in Atikokan

The boil-water advisory has been lifted in Atikokan after consecutive follow-up tests of the municipality’s water found no harmful bacteria.
“As of Aug. 10 at 3:10 p.m., it was lifted,” Atikokan Mayor Dennis Brown said.
The boil-water advisory was declared by the Northwestern Health Unit after water samples were found to contain faecal coliform organisms back on Friday, July 28.
The town quickly made adjustments at the water treatment plant and the follow-up samples, taken the next day, came out clean.
“It’s been clear since we flushed the system and we made sure there was ample chlorine in the system,” confirmed Peter Kerr, Atikokan’s superintendent of public works.
“We feel that the area of the ambulance base where the poor sample was taken is a fairly slow flow,” he explained. “We really think that it was a case of needing to flush some stale water.”
Officials at the Northwestern Health Unit agreed a combination of low water movement and warm temperatures was to blame for the tainted sample.
They lifted the advisory when samples came back without a single harmful organism.
“We go for absolutely zero,” said Bill Limerick, environmental team leader for the health unit.
The higher concentration of chlorine ensures there is always some residual chlorine in the water after bacteria has been combated. It will remain in the system until colder weather lowers the growing potential of the bacteria.
“As far as I know, they’ll be keeping it in as long as the weather stays warm,” said Mayor Brown. “It wasn’t supposed to happen and hopefully it will be okay for years to come.”
Faecal coliform can cause an infection of the intestines, leading to ’flu-like symptoms.