Sometimes, CK Public Health will issue an advisory warning people that their water may be unsafe to drink. Water advisories are posted here. There are two types of advisories, a Boil Water Advisory or a Drinking Water Advisory.

Boil Water Advisory

CK Public Health will issue a Boil Water Advisory if water is unsafe to drink. Reasons for a Boil Water Advisory might include:

• An outbreak of illness related to drinking water
• A water main break
• Adverse water sample
• Evidence that water may not be properly treated
• Flooding

What to do during a Boil Water Advisory

During a Boil Water Advisory, either find a different water source, such as bottled water, or boil your water for at least 1 minute before using it for:

• Drinking
• Making infant formula
• Mixing juice
• Making ice
• Cooking with water
• Brushing teeth
• Washing raw foods
• Making coffee in a coffeemaker

To boil water, place a pot of water on the stove and heat it until the water comes to a rolling boil.

Drinking Water Advisory

CK Public Health will issue a Drinking Water Advisory if water is unsafe to use for any purpose. This may happen if there is evidence that a chemical has entered the water, such as through a toxic waste or chemical spill. In this case, boiling the water will not make it safe to use.

What to do during a Drinking Water Advisory

If you receive a Drinking Water Advisory, do not use your water for drinking, bathing or any other purpose. Find a different water source, such as bottled water.

Notification Of Boil Water Advisory and Drinking Water Advisory

For information on Boil Water Advisories and Drinking Water Advisories, you can call CK Public Health Water Advisory Update Line, and it will have the affected locations, updates and when the Boil Water Advisories and Drinking Water Advisories are rescinded.

For small water advisories such as a water main break where the affected area can be isolated, notices are delivered door to door to the affected users.

For larger scale water advisories such as adverse municipal water samples or chemical contamination from the source water, a media release is issued.

CK Public Health does not test the public drinking water system. The water system is sampled weekly by the CK Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and sent to a third party, accredited laboratory. Adverse water sample results are reported to CK Public Health. CK Public Health provides direction to the PUC on corrective actions. When there is a potential risk to the public, CK Public Health issues advisories as appropriate.

Call our Healthy Environments department at 519.355.1071 X 2902
or email: environmental_health@chatham-kent.ca