HILLSBURGH — A boil water advisory issued for Hillsburgh residents on July 12 has been lifted effective immediately.
Village residents connected to the town’s water system have been under a boil water advisory since Wednesday afternoon following the discovery of E. coli bacteria in a lab-tested water sample.
Test results now indicate water is safe to drink, according to a July 14 notice from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH) and relayed to the Advertiser Friday night.
“Three water samples were collected on both July 12 and July 13 and sent for testing,” the notice states.
At least two water samples, taken 24 to 48 hours apart, had to return safe testing results in a lab before the advisory could be lifted.
A notice posted on the Town of Erin’s website now recommends:
• flushing of water-using fixtures for one minute;
• running cold water faucets and drinking water sources for one minute before use;
• run hot water and run an empty dishwasher cycle once;
• discard baby formula and food prepared with water during the boil water advisory period (July 12-14); and
• drain and flush any ice-making machines.
The advisory comes to an end two days after it was first implemented by WDGPH.
E. coli and coliform bacteria were discovered in a lab-tested water sample, part of routine water sampling done by the the town’s water operator, the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA).
Taken on July 11 from a dead-end line on Spruce Street, the sample was found to contain bacteria which can cause debilitating illness and even lead to death.
It’s unclear why the boil water advisory wasn’t implemented until the day after the sample was taken.
The Advertiser has established that the local health unit received notification from the OCWA about the discovery of E. coli around 4:30pm on July 12.
According to OCWA regional manager Caralynn McRae, the water operator then received the health unit’s boil water advisory at 6:03pm the same day.
Nearly 30 minutes later, Erin staff received a preliminary notification from the OCWA, according to town spokesperson Lavina Dixit.
A boil water advisory issued by Public Health, and relayed by the OCWA, was then received by the town at 7:16pm on July 12, Dixit told the newspaper.
The Advertiser was not provided a copy of the advisory until the following morning, on July 13.
On the evening of July 12, volunteer firefighters and two staff from Station 50 in Hillsburgh set out to hand-deliver printed notices to affected village residents.
“The priority was to get the notification as soon as possible to the residents first,” Dixit wrote in an email, responding to a question about why local news media were not notified sooner.
Between 6:30 and 7:09pm Wednesday evening, printouts were made, notices were posted to the town website and social media, and finally sent to Erin Radio and other media, Dixit explained.
The decision to hand-deliver notices was one of 10 recommendations put forward in a recent post-incident analysis following backlash from residents about how the town handled an Erin boil water advisory in March.
