At the height of its lucrative tourist season, the small community of Alma is six days into a boil water advisory.
The coastal village just outside of Fundy National Park is part of the newly amalgamated community of Fundy Albert.
Fundy Albert Mayor Bob Rochon told Global News in an interview that the water reservoir was originally created with a small number of permanent residents in mind.
The thousands of tourists that flock to Alma every summer are creating too big of a demand for it to handle.
“There’s been a combination of that plus the fact that we’ve had a fair amount of rain in the past couple of weeks. It’s the type of well that’s affected by surface water, so that’s created increased turbidity,” Rochon said.
High turbidity in water means it’s become cloudy in appearance due to material scattered in it.
Rochon said a major overhaul of the water system is needed in order to prevent boil orders every tourism season.
“We’re in Phase 1 of exploration and Part 1 is to find a new source of water. We’re almost there,” he said.
“Then comes the big part, which is construction, and that could be somewhere in the range of $8 to $12 million.”
He said the community was in the process of seeking funding from the federal and provincial governments for the project, and that it would be at least two years before the community had a new water system.
In an emailed statement, a representative for the Department of Health told Global News that water in Alma should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute before use in order to kill any microbes and make it safe to drink.
The statement read that the department would evaluate whether the order could be lifted after the “implementation of risk-mitigation measures by the municipality. ”
Rochon said the boil advisory would last “at least until next weekend.”
“I was speaking with our engineering partners and our water folks this morning. It’s quite possible that if this continues, if demand doesn’t decrease, we could see a boil order that’s on all summer,” he said.
Rochon is appealing to residents and businesses to conserve water.
Comments