Power failure inside water facility leads to Halifax boil water advisory

A power failure inside a Halifax-area water treatment facility is being blamed for the boil water advisory affecting thousands of Halifax water customers.

The J. Douglas Kline Water Supply Plant in Upper Hammonds Plains, N.S., experienced a power supply failure somewhere inside the facility Monday afternoon, according to Halifax Water's Jeff Myrick, a senior manager and communication and corporate strategy lead.

"The chlorination is the final part of the water treatment process, to ensure that if there are any bacteria or germs still in the water, the chlorination will kill it," said Myrick.

The power failure inside the facility occurred around 2 p.m. but the backup generator didn't power on and for roughly 30 minutes, no water in the system was treated with chlorine, says Myrick, which prompted the alerts and the boil water advisory. 

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The chlorinated treated water is being pushed through the system to mix with the water in the pipes and the utility continues to test the water in the system every hour.

The boil water advisory is impacting anyone who draws water from the Pockwock watershed, which includes residents in Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield and Herring Cove.

"It's a slow process, we expect it's going to take 48 hours," said Myrick.

The focus right now is on the water quality and safety, but an investigation into the power failure will determine the cause.

"It was purely electrical as far as we're concerned," said Myrick. "But we will look at everything and I should say that the generator and the systems that are in that plant are tested on a regular basis." 

 

The boil water 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.

Two hours earlier the Halifax Regional Municipality sent out a public notice through its "HFX Alert" system while Halifax Water says they issued notifications through its social media channels and email.

The power system failure and the boil water advisory is impacting around 210,000 residents and roughly 70,000 Halifax Water customers.

Myrick says anyone who consumed water between the time of the power failure and when the alerts went out wouldn't be at risk.

"By the time all the alerts went out there was still no untreated water in the system," said Myrick. "It was just beginning to hit households when the provincial alert went out."

The boil water advisory will be lifted as soon as Halifax Water meets chlorination targets set out and adhering to Health Canada Guidelines for drinking water.

The Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Climate Change confirmed Halifax Water is responsible for completing all the testing and sending samples to an accredited lab.

The province will then review the test results to determine if they are in compliance and in a position to lift the boil water advisory. 

Boil water advisory impacts businesses

When stores in the Halfiax area opened Monday morning, people raced to stock up on cases of bottled water. By noon, most of the stores had run out, leaving some scrambling to find alternatives.

“I didn’t know about this until I arrived from Toronto yesterday. I’ve sort of been panicking trying to find water,” said Hilary Ilkay. “This morning a friend drove me to all these far flung stores and the shelves were completely empty and totally picked over.”

Ilkay said she had been to five different stores before finding a bottle of water to take home with her.

“I only picked up because it’s all I can physically carry and also I’m pretty sick of seeing the over-buying and hoarding going on. I’m seeing people do some pretty egregious purchasing of water.”

To combat the over-purchasing, some stores have put up signs around the store, putting a limit on the purchases.

With many shelves sitting empty, some have turned to buying the other drinks to stay hydrated.

“So I found some sparkling water, and things like juice and ice cream,” said Mike Whitehouse.

Some have also been boiling their water at home.

“We’ve just been boiling a kettle at a time, so just a couple of liters at a time, which has been fine so far,” said Sean Rasmussen.

Nitha Raghu said her school has been telling people to take extra precaution.

“We’re being told to avoid washing our hands and use hand sanitizer instead.”

The ripple effects were immediate, forcing some daycares and businesses in the Halifax-area to close their doors.

The South End Community Day Care Centre was one of them, along with multiple Tim Hortons and Starbucks locations.

However, many businesses in the downtown area prepared to open their doors early in the morning.

“We knew we were in for it and had to complete shift gears,” said restaurant owner, Gier Simensen.

This morning Simensen made rounds to multiple of his restaurant locations, dropping off cases of water before the restaurants open.

A closed sign is pictured on the door of a Tim Hortons in the Clayton Park area of Halifax on July 2, 2024. (Carl Pomeroy/CTV Atlantic)

“We’re getting water first because that’s the main one, and then we’re going [to] go back out and get coke and diet coke and those kinds of products we’ll need to be open,” he said.

Due to the warm weather Tuesday, Simensen said it’s impacted the amount that he has needed to buy.

“It’s also hard for our staff because finally we got a nice sunny day here so it’s not easy to work in these conditions, so a lot of this water is just for our staff.”

The Halifax Infirmary told CTV News in a statement that staff, physicians, patients and visitors are being asked not to drink tap water or use ice machines and “Out of Order” signage has been placed on water fountains and ice machines. “Bottled water for patient and staff consumption is available within the Health Centre and community locations. Slower than usual delivery times are expected for patient meals for the boil water advisory.”

The City of Halifax has also closed its public splash pads due to the untreated water. 

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.