*UPDATE, 4:30pm WEDNESDAY, JULY 8: City Hall says the water is now safe, and the boil advisory is lifted**
Every home and business east of the Timmins water tower is being advised to boil their tap water before using it for the next couple of days.
The city’s public utilities manager, Scott Tam, says there was “a chemical process upset” last night at the water plant. So the system switched to the reservoirs, but once they dwindled, pressure dropped.
Tam says low pressure can create a risk of bacterial contamination.
“To be cautious,” he says, “We just want to issue a boil water advisory ‘til we can maintain pressure to ensure that we are providing safe water.”
He adds that the advisory encompasses “Schumacher and the Porcupine area. Basically east of the water tower and that includes everything on top of the hill at A&W/Feldman property easterly.”
That includes Vipond and Gold Mine Roads as well as South Porcupine.
The advisory will be lifted after 48 hours of clear tests. Click here for Porcupine Health Unit advice on using water safely during a boil water advisory.