Boil-water advisory lifted in Halifax

A boil-water advisory that went into effect Monday night in Halifax has been lifted.

Halifax Water issued a statement just after 10 a.m. Wednesday saying drinking water samples have met the requirements established by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change.

The advisory previously affected people using the JD Kline (Pockwock) Lake Water Treatment Facility.

Residents in Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield, and portions of Fall River, Waverley and Herring Cove are being told to follow two steps before consuming water again:

• Fridges or other appliances that store water should be flushed for 10 minutes. 
• Dispose of ice made by an ice maker or ice cube tray during the boil water advisory. 

Halifax Water said the advisory followed a power supply failure somewhere in the treatment facility Monday afternoon.

The issue caused unchlorinated water to enter the system.

The advisory marked the first time Halifax Water used the provincial alert system, which sent out an alert to telecommunication devices around 8:30 p.m. on Monday.

“We had to learn the process in order to learn how to achieve getting something out and so once we understood that we got it out. It took a couple of hours,” said Jeff Myrick, senior manager of communications and corporate for Halifax Water.

After the alert went out, some people in the affected area were left wanting more information about the health risks involved.

“There was a bit of a mismatch and then the lack of update, there was one like three hours after they published it and then the following day. It was a bit infrequent as to what was going on,” said resident Andrew McCallum.

“If it’s going out on social media and it’s going out on a press release than I think we want to think about the considerable population in Nova Scotia that doesn’t get their news on social media. We want them informed too,” said Gary Burrill, MLA for the Halifax area.

Another alert was sent just before 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to say the advisory was lifted.

An emergency alert sent in the Halifax area on July 3, 2024, saying a boil water advisory was lifted.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.