by Jillian Trainor, originally posted on January 20, 2017

Residents of Burton will be pleased to know the boil water notice that has been in effect in thecommunity since the end of November has been downgraded. In its place is a water quality advisory.

The advisory is similar to a boil water notice in that there is a recognized risk to using water that hasnot been boiled, but it’s a lower level risk.

“Under a water quality advisory we do advise any seniors or very young children or anyone withimmune system considerations boil their water or find an alternate source,” said Jason McDiarmid,manager of utility services for the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK). “It’s somewhat of apersonal decision. Basically, the water is likely ok, but there’s still the potential risk in there.”

It is advised that anyone who falls under these at risk categories still boil their water for one minutewhen it comes to doing things like washing fruits and vegetables, making beverages, or brushingteeth.

Owners of all public facilities must post a water quality advisory at all sinks or drinking waterfountains accessible to the public. Alternatively, public fountains and taps may be turned off. Asopportunities arise, they must also advise their clientele verbally of the advisory.

McDiarmid said the water advisory will remain in place for the time being, but the temporarychlorination will be in place for a short period of time.

“We got enough feedback from the community that there was enough people concerned usimplementing chlorination without us talking to them,” said McDiarmid. “We decided to only run thetemporary chlorinator for another couple of weeks or so.”

The water quality advisory will remain in place until members of the RDCK meets with thecommunity, which will likely be sometime in March.