Thursday, May 12

  • 3 am - A failure occurred at the Chamberlain Street Pumping Station. The certified water operator at the Bare Point Water Treatment Plant immediately responded to an alarm at the Station and dispatched additional staff to determine the cause and restore service.
  • 3:20 am - The City's Emergency Response Protocol was activated.
  • 5:00 am - The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) were notified of the event.
  • 7:20 am - The first Media Release was distributed advising residents in the north end of the City that they may experience low water pressure, discoloured water, or no water service. At this time all customers city-wide were also asked to limit water use wherever possible.
  • 8:45 am - As an action item within the City's Emergency Response Protocol, the City met with officials from the MOECC and the TBDHU.
  • 10 am - The TBDHU issued a Precautionary Boil Water Advisory for customers in pressure Zone 2N due to low system pressure and provided direction on how the notice was to be distributed.
  • 11 am - The City publicly communicated the precautionary Boil Water Advisory through traditional and social media, as well as hand delivered letters to affected customers by City and TBDHU staff.

    Precautionary Boil Water Advisories were delivered by both the City and the TBDHU. The TBDHU delivered notices to the hospital, long-term care facilities, daycares, schools, and food establishments. More than 50 City representatives from the Environment Division, as well as Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, hand delivered Precautionary Boil Water Advisories to affected customers in pressure Zone 2N, totalling approximately 11,000 households.

Friday, May 13

  • 9 am - the City publicly communicated that the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory would remain in effect for customers in pressure Zone 2N.
  • 7:30 pm -  Additional notice was communicated that the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory would remain in effect through the weekend. Hand delivered letters wrapped up in the evening.
  • The first of two mandatory rounds of bacteriological sampling and testing were conducted.

Saturday, May 14

  • Results of the first round of mandatory bacteriological sampling and testing were received. The analysis, performed by an independent, certified lab, confirmed passing results.

Sunday, May 15

  • 4 pm - Results from the second round of testing were received, confirming that the series of samples taken on Saturday had passing results. The TBDHU confirmed the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory could be rescinded.
  • 5 pm - The City publicly communicated that the Precautionary Boil Water Advisory was rescinded and indicated that delivery of rescind notices would commence on Monday, May 16.

Monday, May 16

  • City representatives began to hand deliver rescind notices to affected customers and confirmed deliveries will continue to all affected customers through the week during regular business hours.
    Tuesday, May 17
  • The non-essential water use restrictions were lifted, and a Media Release was distributed.

The actions taken by the City were in accordance with the established Emergency Response Protocol, which prescribes the City's response based on the type of event. During an emergency event, decisions are made based on evidence and information received through multiple sources, including, but not limited to reports from certified operators, water system data, public calls to Infrastructure & Operations Dispatch, and communications with regulatory officials.

The City of Thunder Bay's priority is to continually provide safe and high-quality drinking water to the public. Throughout this event, water quality was maintained as demonstrated by water quality sampling conducted. The City's efforts focused on protecting the quality of the water supply, restoring water pressure throughout Zone 2N, maintaining system integrity city-wide, and consistent communication with the public.

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Contact: Stacey Levanen - Communications Specialist, 625-3650 or slevanen@thunderbay.ca