Saint John boil order lifted

[B]Order still in place for Rothesay residents who use city's water[/B]

[IMG]http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/topstories/2010/06/16/tp-nb-saint-john-ivan-court.jpg[/IMG]
Saint John Mayor Ivan Court says a state-of-the-art water treatment facility is still seven to eight years away.


The boil-water order that was affecting about 45,000 Saint John residents during the Thanksgiving weekend has been lifted.


However, it remains in place for people in the bedroom community of Rothesay.

Saint John Water needed two clear tests 24 hours apart to lift the boil order, and the provincial Department of Health gave the go-ahead late Sunday afternoon.

The order, which began early Thursday morning, has affected the entire city east of the Reversing Falls Bridge, including the city's uptown, as well as the Kennebecasis Park neighbourhood in Rothesay.

"Test results have confirmed that water within the City of Saint John is safe to consume," a notice on the city's web site said. "However, those within the Town of Rothesay who have been under the boil-water order will remain so until further notice."

The statement did not say how many customers are still affected, but the Kennebecasis Park users would be a small percentage of the tens of thousands who were affected in Saint John. The notice recommended that people who haven't been using their water during the boil order let the water run for a few minutes before using.

Having to boil water at a rolling boil for one minute is an inconvenience but what's truly unsettling is the increasing frequency of boil orders, resident Cynthia Doyle said.

This is the eighth boil order in Saint John since 2008.

The most recent order in the area east of Reversing Falls Bridge was in April, while the city's west side faced one in August.


[B]Modern treatment facility years away[/B]

"It does get a little tiresome," said Doyle, who rinsed her Thanksgiving salad vegetables with bottled water. "And it gives you pause when you're drinking your water. I know we have actually started drinking bottled water because you think 'Oh, well maybe it's just not what it should be.'"

Recent heavy rainfalls in Saint John had caused the city's water supply to become cloudy, which makes the chlorination process less effective. Residents were allowed to wash dishes or take showers in the water, but drinking water needed to be boiled.

Mayor Ivan Court has said that a state-of-the-art $259-million water treatment facility is still seven to eight years away.

That price tag is more than twice what the city spends on its operating budget in a single year, and Court says the facility will require funding help from both the federal and provincial governments.