LITTLE CURRENT—Little Current residents were without potable water from Thursday morning to Saturday evening after a mechanical malfunction at the water treatment plant caused a drinking water advisory to be issued.
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) lifted the drinking water advisory for the residents in Little Current Saturday evening when, “The bacteriological quality of the water supply has been tested with no adverse results being reported,” said Burgess Hawkins, a manager in the Public Health Protection Division.
At a committee of the whole meeting of the Northeast Town Thursday night, CAO Dave Williamson explained that the municipality was first alerted to the problem that morning when, at approximately 8:10 am, residents began calling the town office with reports of having no water.
Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), which is contracted to oversee the water treatment plants in both Little Current and Sheguiandah, was then contacted. They discovered that the Little Current wells were empty and that residents were indeed without water.
“The cause was determined as a failure of the programmable logic controller (PLC)—which tells the valve that leads to the well to open or close—but the PLC stopped communicating with the valve and so therefore no alarm went off,” Mr. Williamson explained to council. “The computer program didn’t direct the valve to open at the right time.”
Mr. Williamson noted that by 3 pm Thursday afternoon, the wells were 40 percent filled and OCWA could begin pressurizing the system again, slowly due to the number of 4” and 6” lines in the system, and to keep air pockets from forming.
Mr. Williamson commended the municipal staff who all stepped up to help spread the word, going door to door with pamphlets advising residents of the drinking water advisory and what to do once the water was restored. Under a drinking water advisory, water should only be used for cleaning, clothes washing, dishwashing and bathing but should not be used for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth.
“Public works mobilized and got to Espanola and hand-bombed enough water onto trucks to rush back to supply Manitoulin Health Centre and the Manor with water,” the CAO added.
“And Andrew Orr (outgoing store owner at the Valu-Mart) stepped up, called his supplier and got a truckload of water shipped from southern Ontario, which will be arriving here tonight,” Mr. Williamson shared. “We drained Espanola and Mindemoya of bottled water.”
“In an emergency, staff stepped up—getting messages out to the public in every way possible,” Mr. Williamson continued. “And a number of firefighters stepped up too. The fire department was ready to draft water from the lake in case of fire.”
Mr. Williamson said he would be speaking with Keith Stringer, operations manager at OCWA, about future mitigation “to prevent anything like this in the future.”
Getting the pressure back is just the first step. Once the pressure has returned, a sample is taken, sent to Sudbury where it undergoes a 24-hour incubation period. The process is then repeated.
The public works garage acted as a water station for Little Current residents, who were encouraged to pick up cases of bottled water from Thursday through Saturday from 7 am to 9 pm. Community volunteers were sought to help with the distribution centre.
The water advisory wreaked havoc on the restaurant community, with some closing completely while others offered limited items. The Tim Hortons shut down its drive through and offered a limited menu Friday morning.
Carrie Moore, manager at 3 Cows and a Cone, said they made the decision to shut down Thursday due to a lack of bathroom facilities. On Friday, the restaurant reopened having gone to the Sheguiandah water treatment plant and getting plenty of water to wash vegetables, make gravy etc. Ms. Moore said the restaurant were not going to offer frozen yogurt, milkshakes, slushies or coffee until the water advisory was lifted.
“Luckily for us, we’re mostly takeout,” Ms. Moore said. “But it’s definitely a bit more labour intensive.”
Mayor Al MacNevin issued a public statement Saturday night. “I know that this has been a very difficult time for many people in our community and I thank you all for your patience and support over the last few days.”
