MONTREAL – Montreal’s mayor said that the there was no human error involved at the Atwater filtration plant, the point of origin for the cause of a 36-hour boil water advisory that affected the entire city.
The Atwater filtration plant is Quebec’s largest and processes about 90 per cent of the city’s water supply. Built in 1918, it was considered an engineering marvel and the city has invested $15 million over the last four years to upgrade the installations.
According to Michael Applebaum, the pumps, that should have kicked in when water levels were lowered, didn’t function properly.
As part of a standard procedure, two-thirds of the reservoir was emptied, but for an unknown reason, too much water was drained, causing sediment to rise to the surface and enter the water mains system.
A boil-water advisory was called and officials conducted water tests to make sure there was no dangerous contaminants, although they believed the water only contains sediment, and not bacteria.
Applebaum confirmed Thursday that the water was fine all along.
To reassure Montrealers about the safety of the city’s drinking water, city officials are putting in place a team of experts to review work procedures at the water filtration plant.
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