Blown fuse behind Halifax boil water advisory

A broken fuse resulted in the boil water advisory across Halifax on Tuesday.

Halifax Water says a blown fuse led to the disruption in the chlorination system at the Pockwock Lake water treatment facility Monday night, which prompted a boil water advisory for more than 200,000 customers across the Halifax region.

The boil water advisory impacted Halifax Water customers in Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Upper Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Fall River, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield and Herring Cove.

Halifax Water spokesperson Brittany Smith said the issue stemmed from a planned power outage in the Hammonds Plains area. During the outage, the backup system kicked in, but the J. Douglas Kline Water Supply Plant on Pockwock Road experienced an electrical failure and a fuse was blown.

“When the power went out last evening, the generators automatically kicked in and so the system was working,” said Smith. “When the power was restored in the area, that blew a fuse in our power system.”

Halifax Water said the blown fuse impacted the chlorination process – a final step in the water treatment process at the facility – which meant unchlorinated water entered the water system and prompted the boil water advisory.

Halifax Water said they weren’t directly notified about the planned outage but Nova Scotia Power said they issued calls to customers in the area Monday and shared information on its social media channels about the planned outage in order to fix a piece of equipment in need of urgent repair ahead of the cold weather.

“The water treatment process was completed up until their chlorination stage and so there’s water in the system that’s not chlorinated,” said Smith.

The advisory is impacting more than 200,000 customers, who are being advised to boil water for one minute before consuming.

Halifax Water is working with Nova Scotia Health and the Department of Environment and Climate Change to test the water. They will issue a notification when it’s safe to drink the water.

Smith said they estimate it could be 48 hours before the advisory is lifted.

“Right now our focus is to get this advisory lifted and then after that we’ll take a look at exactly what went wrong,” said Smith.

Last July, internal electrical issues caused a power outage at the Pockwock Road facility, resulting in a failure of the chlorination process and a 48-hour boil water advisory.

Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore declined an interview with CTV News and his communication spokesperson directed all questions to Halifax Water.

District 11 councillor Patty Cuttell, whose riding is impacted, is a board member with the Halifax Water Commission. She said “it’s always concerning” when there is a boil water advisory but declined to comment further until she had more information from the water utility.

In a statement to CTV News, Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman acknowledged the public frustration over the second boil water advisory in six months linked to power failure at Halifax Water.

“This is a municipal water utility client service issue and Halifax Water needs to speak to how they will prevent any future planned or unplanned power outages from impacting people in HRM who depend on them for their drinking water,” said Halman.

As the provincial regulator, Halman urged Halifax Water to resolve the power issues immediately and implement a contingency plan for power outages and other possible situations.

“To make sure the water they supply complies at all times with Health Canada’s Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality — which is the requirement — and to make sure this does not happen again,” stated Halman.

The Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board did investigate the circumstances around the July 1 power outage at the Pockwock Road facility and came up with 16 short- and long-term recommendations on how Halifax Water can improve services at the site, which include electrical, mechanical, and system upgrades.

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