Wednesday marks the fourth day of the boil water advisory in Bracebridge, and Mayor Graydon Smith expects it to last until at least Friday.
“I know it’s frustrating for people to hear that, but it’s a multi-step process to get back to a fully certified system,” Smith tells the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom.
The District of Muskoka’s Communications Officer Molly Ross says the water main on Wharf Road is currently being flushed. That started Tuesday morning and will continue into Wednesday.
He says samples have been sent to a laboratory for testing. Smith says it’s not necessarily a multi-day process but it will take at least 24 hours. “They have to see if they can grow any bacterial culture in it,” he explains. If the tests come back negative, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Charles Gardner will lift the advisory. “Samples need to come back that are taken at certain times post-repair that are showing zero readings,” Smith says.
The water main on Wharf Road that caused Bracebridge to be put under a boil water advisory was fixed Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re working as fast as we can to make that happen,” Smith says. While he estimates it will take until the end of the week for the advisory to be lifted, he hopes to be able to do it sooner than that. “I just can’t put a time or a date on it,” he adds.
Water is still available at the Kirby Beach Water Treatment Plant and will continue to be until the advisory is lifted.
“I understand how hard this is on people and how patience can wear thin,” Smith says. “Mine does too.”
He says that anyone needing assistance should contact the District of Muskoka’s Community Services Department.
Provided everything goes smoothly, Smith expects next week’s Engineering and Public Works Committee meeting to deal with the fall-out of this. “I suspect there will be quite a bit of overview done there,” he says. Smith adds a formalized debrief on what happened and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again will take time to work on and hasn’t been scheduled yet.
