Boil-water advisory in effect for Halifax, surrounding communities after power interruption at facility

Hundreds of thousands of customers were under a boil water advisory in the Halifax area on Tuesday.

A boil-water advisory is currently in effect for a large part of the Halifax area.

Halifax Water says there is a possibility of unchlorinated drinking water in areas serviced by the Pockwock Lake Drinking Water Treatment Facility following a power interruption.

“Water continued to be treated but lacked chlorine disinfection for approximately 30 minutes. This interruption has allowed a limited amount of unchlorinated water to enter the system,” reads a Tuesday morning news release from the utility.

Beaver Bank, Middle and Lower Sackville, Upper Hammonds Plains, Bedford, Fall River, Halifax, Timberlea, Spryfield and Herring Cove are under the advisory.

Impacted customers can still use water but should boil it for at least one minute before:

• drinking
• preparing infant formula
• making ice cubes or juices
• washing fruits or vegetables
• cooking
• brushing teeth
• any other activity requiring human consumption

Halifax Water says the boil-water notice will be in effect until further notice.

Nova Scotia Power says the facility is in the area of a planned 15-minute outage Monday night.

Water fountains at schools under the advisory will be taped off Tuesday and bottled water will be provided, according to a notice from Halifax Regional Centre for Education. The school board says 74 schools are impacted by the advisory.

“We’ve taped over or covered our water fountains and placed signage over them and around the schools to remind students that the water isn’t safe to drink at this time,” said Lindsey Bunin, communications officers for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education.

Some coffee shops in the affected areas were forced to close their doors before they were even open, while others chose to reduce their menu.

“We’re not serving drip coffee or iced coffee. So, anything that’s really tap water,” said Samantha Mihelcic, employee at Apartment 3 Espresso Bar in Lower Sackville.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Vanessa Wright.

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