Prince Albert boil water order may go to end of March

A boil water order remains in effect in Prince Albert, Sask., and could extend to the end of March, officials say.

At a briefing Tuesday to update residents, officials said work to flush out a contaminated water system was proceeding but is taking time.

"There has been some significant work accomplished in terms of developing and executing a plan to restore the water to normal," Robert Cotterill, the city manager said.

"I truly wanted to be able to announce today that we were near the end of this, but the reality is that there is work that has to be done in the interest of safety," he added. "We've done a lot in the last few weeks but there are over 200 dead end lines in the system and each need to be cleaned."

Prince Albert supplies water to about 40,000 residents in the city and nearby area.

A mechanical break-down Feb. 3 led to the contamination of the water supply, which continues to test positive for two parasites.

Thecity has sent divers into its reservoirs, to clean the system.

The next step, according to officials, is to flush out the pipes leading from the treatment plant to homes and businesses.

That is expected to begin later this week, under a cleaning plan that was approved by provincial regulators.

The flushing operation is complicated, the city said, because it uses a significant volume of water for the process but supplies are limited.

It gets even more complicated because the city is also trying to get system upgrades done at the same time.

"It's a complicated process that is further complicated by the ongoing upgrade at the plant," Cotterill noted. "I'm asking that people bear with us."