PENTICTON — Pasta Factory was served with some bad news: it can’t use the tap water. A boil water notice was issued late Sunday afternoon, affecting 230 residents and several businesses in a large section of Penticton’s downtown. When Duane Jordan, the owner of the Pasta Factory, got the notice, he had to close his restaurant during the middle of the Super Bowl.
“We shut down here at 5:30 last night, so we lost four to five hours of business during a busy supper hour,” says Jordan. “The main thing is less hours for our staff, and now we have the added expenses of flushing our systems and operating a day or two without city water.”
Jordan has purchased a truckload of bottled water, enough to quench the customers’ thirst, but not enough to sustain the kitchen operations.
City spokesperson Simone Blais says the decision to make the notice was due to the extensive damage done after a major water line burst.
The water pipe has been temporarily repaired.
“They’ve done some interim work to the pipe so that water can continue to flow, that was step one. Step two is taking a look at the suction and making sure that it can be replaced,” says Blais.
Interior Health Authority has to determine when it is safe to consume tap water again, which can take about three days.
Jordan says that’s much too long and his restaurant won’t be able to survive without the city water.
“If we don’t have city water by tomorrow, we will probably shut down.”
But his business will be back up and running again once the tap water is considered safe.
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