NLIS 5
June 22, 2000
(Health and Community Services)

The provincial government is currently reviewing its policies and procedures regarding public water supplies in the province. As a first step, government has undertaken a review of the most recent water sampling data for our water systems. This review comes as a result of the recent tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario where E. coli was found in that community�s drinking water, resulting in a large outbreak of illness in residents.

According to Dr. Faith Stratton, Chief Medical Officer of Health for Newfoundland and Labrador: "Whenever major public health events such as the one in Ontario occur, it is always good to go back and review one�s own policies and procedures to ensure they are current and to see if they need to be improved upon in any way. It is important that we examine disease outbreaks from other jurisdictions so that we can learn how to better manage our own water systems."

Dr. Stratton said over the past couple of weeks, the provincial government departments involved in water supply systems in this province - namely Environment and Labour, Government Services and Lands, Health and Community Services and Municipal and Provincial Affairs - have consulted on a regular basis to determine if its policies and procedures around water supplies are sound. "While we have one of the safest water supplies in the world, we are going to exercise even more caution than we have been in the past in certain areas of our policy, such as when we ask communities to put a boil order in place. We want to be prudent and responsible when the safety of the public is concerned."

According to Dr. Stratton, if there is indication, for example, that water supplies have no chlorination or other disinfection mechanism in place, the recommendation will be for a boil order to be put in place. This may mean that communities which have never experienced any ill effects from their water supply in the past will now be asked to boil their water. While boiling water is an inconvenience, it is certainly outweighed by the potential concerns for one�s health.

"We want to ensure that communities with chlorine disinfection systems have levels of disinfection that are appropriate to ensure safe drinking water," said Dr. Stratton. "This may mean that communities around the province will be advised to put boil orders in place." Dr. Stratton assured people that this action is not prompted by any evidence of water related illnesses.

As a general rule, any community placed on a boil order should boil their water for five minutes. This should ensure that any illness-causing bacteria are no longer present, and that the water is safe to drink. In the event residents are unsure if their community has been placed on a boil order, they are encouraged to contact their municipality first, or their nearest Government Services Centre.

There are currently approximately 130 boil orders in place in Newfoundland and Labrador, affecting about 10 per cent of the population.

Media contact: Karen McCarthy, Health and Community Services, (709) 729-6670.

2000 06 22                                             12:35 p.m.