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A boil water advisory is in place for parts of Greater Sudbury, specifically Sudbury and New Sudbury as well as Falconbridge.
In a news release Wednesday evening, the local health unit said it brought in the measure “as a result of adverse water samples reported Wednesday.”
The health unit says the communities of Copper Cliff, Coniston, Walden, Garson, Val Caron as well as Azilda, Chelmsford, Dowling, Skead, and Onaping are not affected.
Dr. Emily Groot, associate Medical Officer of Health with Public Health Sudbury and Districts, told CBC News the advisory is a precautionary measure.
“We don’t have any evidence of illness in the community,” Groot said. “But based on the results of some samples taken Wednesday, we have put in place the boil water advisory.”
The advisory means people who take their water from the municipal system should not use it unless bringing the water to a rolling boil for at least a minute. This includes using municipal water for:
drinking.making juice. infant formula.ice.cooking. washing fruit and vegetables.brushing teeth.
“The advice is to boil the water or use alternative sources of water,” Groot said. “But based on what we know, we don’t expect people who inadvertently drink the water to become ill. We’re just asking that people take this advice as a precaution while we’re confirming the safety of the water, which we are actively investigating.”
Even though the advisory is a precaution, it covers restaurants and grocery stores, which are required to either close or take measures outlined in the Guidelines for Retail Food Service Establishments and Supermarkets.
“This does affect a number of food premises and to ensure that people who might be going to those food premises, or restaurants, going out to lunch or dinner, are not drinking water that is under a boil water advisory.”
Asked for a time frame, Groot told CBC News that the advisory could be in place for up to 48 hours.
“We typically require two samples 24 to 48 hours apart to confirm that the water is safe to drink before allowing people to return to their municipal water supply. So that’s the minimum timeline.”
Groot said she could only speak to the medical aspect of the advisory, and not to the possible causes or issues with the city water systems.
“Questions about the actual system structure would have to go to the actual operators of the system, but certainly we’re working closely with them to understand the potential impacts on health, and to ensure that everyone stays healthy in the community.”