Boil water advisory in effect

Wow… 3 weeks went by pretty fast. I thought we were on our second week.

Anyway, felt like another normal day.

first i would like to thank Port Edward and their help by letting Rupertits take water from their RV Station, that said why doesn’t the city post the testing numbers and what the numbers should look like? that way we would at least guess how close it is to being resolved

Remember when everyone hated Port Edward ? :slight_smile:

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Why? So you’ll have more things to jab at the mayor? What did he even do to you anyway? lol

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didn’t do anything to me, but in times like this shouldn’t the mayor and council be a little more transparent? lets face it what is wrong with posting the testing results? or actually taking a guess of when we might not have to boil our water, all we hear from them is crickets and for those that don’t know what that means, it means silence, all we heard so far from mayor and council is the original boil water post and nothing since, and why are they not thanking Port Ed in public for what they are doing?

just posting part of a story from North Coast Review:

The CBC story also indicated that Prince Rupert’s water is only tested twice a year for cryptosporidium and giardia, the two parasites that currently have us boiling our water.

2 posts were split to a new topic: Let’s take a bubble bath with the mayor

Let’s get back on topic please. Thank you. Let’s post new information about the boil water advisory.

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They’re not out to commit a mass genocide on the entire town you know. They use the exact same water as we do.

Besides, if you ventured outside your home last year, you would’ve noticed the city did a crap tons of work on our water infrastructure.

Just be patient and let them do their thing, and hopefully the next update is a promising one.

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I’m sure they’re doing the best they can under the circumstances. This is a naturally occurring problem, and they’re dealing with it.

As for the “transparency” – I think it would solve a lot of issues if the mayor posted more stuff on the city website rather than on Facebook.

Facebook’s algorithm messes with things sometimes, so that only a certain percentage of “friends” get to see posts. That isn’t helpful in “getting the message out.” Not to mention the fact that not everybody is on Facebook, or if they are, they aren’t “friends” with the mayor.

Not sure why his messaging has to be so exclusive (facebook friends). Perhaps that’s where some of the “transparency” stuff might be coming from?

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Here’s a post from our Mayor today.

Prince Rupert Water Update Jan 5 - Please Read This Entire Message:

Hi folks,

First, I want to acknowledge the frustration for many in the community regarding the water boil notice. For those with children, mobility issues or weakened immune systems - I know this can be a particularly frustrating and inconvenient time for you and your families and want to assure you we are doing everything in our power to get the Notice lifted.

The need for infrastructure renewal is a Canada-wide problem, facing many municipalities who have been unable to replace critical infrastructure. Our community is among several currently under Boil Water Notices and/or Advisories, many of whom have had them in effect for months and in some cases years. The first thing we did upon being elected at the end of 2014 was begin to address our Water infrastructure, which has also unfortunately contributed to the current issue.

As you are aware, we are not using our primary source of water at Woodworth Lake at the moment - and haven’t been since 2016. This is due to the fact that we had to replace the raw water supply line and build a road to the dam (1st phase) and now are beginning construction of a new dam (2nd phase).

We’ve had no choice but to disconnect from our primary source of water to do this.

The secondary source, our backup at Shawatlan Lake, is our only option at the moment while upgrades are underway.

We had two choices: either do nothing, and not upgrade the water supply - and risk a catastrophic failure in infrastructure which could of potentially resulted in NO water being delivered to the community - or finally move forward and upgrade it.

In the last 4 years we’ve approved investments of almost $25 million into the project, and need another $30 million to finish the final phase - which will see a multi-phased Water Treatment facility constructed, and replacement of the submarine water line. Staff have been in constant contact with the Province and have high-level meetings lined up in January in Victoria regarding our current Boil Water situation and funding for the last phase of the water project (treatment).

When the dam construction is completed, we can reconnect to the primary water source.

I’m not sure how else to say this, but there is little we could have done to prevent this situation. The secondary source of water is more prone to run off due to it being at a lower grade, and that’s what happened here - natural causes. There are currently several water boil notices across BC due to similar situations as ours - even some that have treatment options that have not been effective in addressing their respective issues.

I ran for Mayor to fix the problems in our community - and this is exactly what we’re doing. It’s just unfortunate timing and a series of weather events that has caused this situation – which is frustrating for us as well. No one wants this, I get that. We are all equally impacted by this situation.

I wish there was a button I could press to fix this immediately - but there is not. However, how we treat each other during this process reflects on who we are as a community - and to be frank: it’s not necessary to tear each other apart over this issue. You can be upset and frustrated, but some of the comments being made are simply unwarranted, and many completely untrue unfortunately.

For the majority who have expressed their understanding and support, we appreciate your continued patience in this matter.

The City is following all proper protocols in relation to this situation - and complying with all Provincial guidelines. We have now increased the number of tests above and beyond Northern Health recommendations in order to ensure samples are as representative as possible. We are awaiting multiple ‘clear’ samples to return in succession before we can give the all clear. This is not a unilateral process, and must be approved by Northern Health to ensure public health standards are met.

The good news is that Northern Health has not received any registered illnesses as a result of the water.

At our January 14th council meeting, Staff will present a technical report that will answer many of the community’s questions.

Staff are working tirelessly to move this forward as fast as humanly possible, and we hope to have this situation resolved soon.

We will get through this together, and will work hard to expedite the water supply upgrades. Our mission is to build the best water system that will last for the next 100+ years - and one we will all be proud of.

In your service,

Mayor Lee Brain

PS - I’d also like to thank Port Edward for opening their taps to our community. Although we have our disagreements in respect to the Ridley Island Tax Sharing Agreement, over the years both communities have been there to support each other in times of need and crisis and it’s sincerely appreciated at this time!

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So if someone wasn’t on Facebook, or wasn’t a friend of the mayor, where would they have seen this message?

The message itself is great, and explains the situation very well. But why the obsession with facebook? The city has a website, doesn’t it?

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Yup. I think it would be a great idea if the mayor posted the message at the city website.

Unfortunately, that’s where the majority of us get their news from these days. If you somehow liked or joined most of the Prince Rupert oriented pages, chances are you’ll get the mayor’s messages on your news feed.

But I hear ya, the same messages should’ve been pasted on the city website too.

I thought the boil water advisory was well relayed and hard to miss. I first learned the notice on CFNR radio, then by social media, and finally The Northern View.

Hey look, Jabber got his wish. lol

lb

My name isn’t Frank :joy::joy:

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Boil water advisory update

UPDATE - January 11th, 2019

**Please note that following delays in test results over Christmas, the City is now receiving results back from the lab that has been testing our continuous water sampling. Results are improving and we look forward to receiving permission to lift the Boil Water Notice as soon as Northern Health determines enough clear samples have been returned. **

The Boil Water Notice does remain in effect, and all precautions noted in the original Notice should still be followed. Thank you for your patience.

A real problem we had here when the fires were raging. Aside from the Evelybody flee! Godzilla is coming posts…

thanks to the north coast review for this

and again after about 6 weeks or no council with a boil water advisory acting mayor Neish states

Councillor Wade Niesh handled the bulk of the Boil Water update by first noting that there would be no opportunity for those in attendance at City Council chambers to speak on the water issue at the council session

Well saddly this is what happens when the incumbent city council gets back in and get spoiled and feel they owe nobody a chance to ask questions.

plus after 6 weeks off shouldn’t the full council and mayor show up?