Boil water advisory in Gatineau's Aylmer sector to last at least another day

The City of Gatineau has issued a boil water advisory for the Aylmer sector. (City of Gatineau/ handout)

The City of Gatineau says a boil water advisory for 10,000 residents in the Aylmer sector will last at least another day.

The advisory was issued at noon on Aug. 1. Residents and businesses in the affected area have had to boil their tap water for at least one minute before consuming it.

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In an update issued at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, the City said samples taken in the previous 24 hours were not up to the standard required to lift the boil water advisory.

"Wednesday's test will confirm whether the advisory can be lifted. The population will be notified as soon as an update is available," the City of Gatineau said in French, in a post on social media.

City staff continue to flush the water network.

The City of Gatineau confirmed to CTV News Ottawa that the boil water advisory was put in place because a routine test discovered the presence of E. coli bacteria. Provincial regulations require negative results in water samples for two days in a row before a boil water advisory can be lifted. If a sample is positive, the counter resets to zero. Such was the case on Saturday, when a positive sample was detected, according to information provided to CTV News Ottawa by the City of Gatineau.

The reason for the extension of the advisory comes after Monday's test found the presence of atypical colonies, which required further testing. Tuesday's test results were inconclusive, requiring another 24 hours to conduct a different test, pushing the advisory into Wednesday.

"Several factors can promote the development of bacteria in the drinking water network," the City of Gatineau said in French. "The recent heat, the high consumption of water in the summer, which does not allow enough time for chlorine to act on the bacteria, or the stagnation of water at the end of the network could all be contributing factors. It is very difficult to identify the main source leading to this non-compliance."

The City stressed that this is a boil water advisory and not a do-not-drink advisory. By following the boil water procedure, the water is safe to drink.

Once the advisory is lifted, affected residents are asked to run their taps cold for about a minute before using any water. Any ice that was made using tap water during the boil water advisory should be discarded.

Water fountains should also be run for about a minute before drinking from them after the advisory lifts. 

Timeline of boil water advisory

The following timeline of events was provided by the City of Gatineau. It has been translated from its original French.

Thursday, Aug.1

• Detection of the presence of one (1) E. Coli in one of the water samples taken
• Start of rinsing and verification of the parameters of the water supply network

Friday, Aug. 2

• Taking the first control samples (D1)
• Development of cultures in the laboratory (±24 hours)
• Continuation of rinsing and verification of the network parameters

Saturday, Aug. 3

• Taking samples 2 (D2)
• Sample results D1 = RJ1 = Positive
• Reset to 0. Samples D2 become D1

Sunday, Aug. 4

• Taking samples D2
• Sample results D1 = RJ1 = Negative
• Continued rinsing and checking network parameters

Monday, Aug. 5

• Sample results D2 = RJ2 = Confirmation
• Confirmation = 0 E. coli, 0 total coliforms and less than 200 atypical colonies. Confirmation is that we must validate that the atypicals are not E. Coli or total coliforms. 24 hours are required.
• Continued rinsing and checking network parameters.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

• Confirmation results are inconclusive.
• A second test, of a different nature, must be carried out. 24 hours are required. We are therefore awaiting these results for tomorrow.
• Continued rinsing and checking network parameters.