The boil water advisory, issued because of elevated turbidity levels, remains in effect for users connected to the Comox Valley water system.
Turbidity is a water quality term that refers to fine suspended particles that are picked up by water as it passes through streams and rivers within a watershed. The turbidity within the Comox Valley water system that is currently causing the boil water advisory is a very fine material that tends to stay in suspension and doesn’t regularly settle. The current levels of turbidity are not dropping as rapidly as usual after a major storm system of the kind that occurred earlier this month.
There is nothing that can be done to accelerate the settling process as it is a naturally occurring phenomenon in the lake, and therefore we cannot predict how long the condition will persist, nor how long the advisory will need to remain in place.
We are working closely with Island Health to monitor the situation, and testing of water samples is completed daily. Meanwhile, the boil water advisory is in the best interest of the community and its public health, and users are advised to boil their drinking water for one minute at a rolling boil.
Elevated turbidity levels in the water may interfere with the disinfection processes and reduce the available chlorine residual that inactivates any harmful bacteria.
More information on boil water advisories is available at www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/boil, and the CVRD’s Facebook and Twitter pages are updated at least once a day with the latest information on the advisory – www.facebook.com/comoxvalleyrd and www.twitter.com/comoxvalleyrd.
(CVRD)
