More than a million Montrealers were advised to boil their water for at least a minute on Wednesday morning (May 22). Citizens who live south of the Metropolitan Expressway – which includes most on the island of Montreal – were part of the advisory.
Montreal is Canada’s second most populous city. The city’s website was not accessible after the advisory, it appeared to have crashed. The website is now up and shows a map of the areas affected and instructions on the water advisory.
According to a province of Quebec website: “Six drinking-water plants on the Island of Montreal treat water from the St. Lawrence River, Lac-Saint-Louis and Rivière-des-Prairies. The water is filtered, disinfected and distributed to the population by way of approximately 50 drinking-water distribution networks.”
The problem with the water originated at a filtration plant that was undergoing major renovations.
Update:
Late Thursday night (May 23) city officials announced that after waiting for the results of water tests, the boil water advisory was being lifted. Investigations into what events caused concerns about the water’s safety will continue. It appears maintenance work at a filtration plant may have created a problem that led to the water advisory on Wednesday.
Next week – we look at continuing boil water advisories in some First Nation Indigenous communities.
More information:
Montreal Gazette – Boil-water advisory widens for Montreal area – here
LaPresse – 1,3 million de personnes touchées par un avis d’ébullition (in French) – here
CBC News – Montreal lifts boil-water advisory – here
RCI – Montreal’s boil water advisory lifted after 36 hours, but questions remain unanswered (audio) – here
City of Montreal map indicating areas affected by the boil water advisory.
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