Further information on boil water notice

The District has continued to investigate the concerns about the Boil Water Notice and would like to provide our residents with the following additional information:

1. The test that suggested the presence of e-coli was performed at the Public Works yard, which is one of four regular testing places.  At the time of testing, the District confirms whether the chlorine residuals may be low which would indicate a concern with the water quality.
2. At the time of the test, chlorine residuals were confirmed to meet the requirements of the Interior Health Authority (“IHA”) and, since e-coli is neutralized within minutes of contact with chlorine, there was no initial concern.
3. IHA requires the samples to be submitted to an approved, independent sampling agency for final analysis. 
4. As there was no initial concern, the lab results indicating the presence of e-coli were surprising.
5. The approved independent sampling agency notified both staff and IHA of the non-potable sample that indicated the presence of e-coli. 
6. IHA advised that the District should err on the side of caution, and therefore, as a precautionary measure, the District issued a Boil Water Notice until we were able to re-sample and obtain confirming results that there was no E. Coli present in the new samples. 
7. Re-testing was implemented and completed the following day and the results showed no presence of E. Coli.
8. It appears the initial test was somehow contaminated, but the District is unable to establish for certain how the contamination occurred.
9. District staff are reviewing the testing procedures and re-training staff to ensure residents are provided with safe drinking water.
10. Your drinking water has been confirmed safe to drink.
11. The Boil Water Notice Advisory has been lifted, and there is no need for residents to unnecessarily take additional action, such as flushing or disposal of water filters, unless they feel they would like to do so.

Under current procedures, the District will re-sampling these same sites tomorrow, Monday, November 20, 2023, and anticipate the results will validate that the Lillooet Community Water System is safe and potable. The District apologizes for any concerns this may have caused residents, but residents can be assured that staff is well trained and follows all required protocols to ensure residents’ safety is the highest priority.

Please see the attached notice.