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Saint John boil water order continues through weekend

SAINT JOHN – There was no change over the weekend in a boil water order, involving thousands of homes and business in Saint John.

The trouble started Friday morning at the city’s main water treatment plant.

On Satruday, officials took water samples, to move forward with the process of getting the order lifted.

But for Karen McInnis, of Kay’s Indoor Café, boil water orders are becoming a way of life.

“They have got it down to a routine now,” she said, “We go out and buy water we keep it in the fridge, and boil [it]. We have had so many of them, you get used to it.”

If you want a drink of water with your meal there, it’s going to come in a bottle.

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Stores, such as Little John’s Variety Store, have to accommodate for a spike in bottled water sales as well.

“When they heard about the boil order [Friday], they acted,” said Andrew Burns. “Actually we have got a larger order of four-litre water and we have been selling a lot more.”

Customers are glad there is bottled water to fall back on, but they are not happy with City Hall.

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“I think there has got to be a problem in this city and a lot of people are not happy and I am one of them,” resident Rob Ferris told Global News.

City officials, meanwhile, said multiple pipe coupling failures shut down the chlorine system, which is the only form of treatment applied to lake water used for the city’s drinking water system.

“There is a coupling in this pipe here that was loose,” Deputy Water Commissioner Kendall Mason said.

Mason said that has been fixed, but now it’s a waiting game for back-to-back, clean lab test results.

He says the job now is to wait for back to back, clean lab test results on water samples.

“All we can do now is collect the samples and provide the results to the Dept. of Health. Hopefully, on Monday evening, we can lift the boil order.”

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