Sudbury Issues Boil Water Advisory After Coliform Bacteria at 2 Plants

Public Health Sudbury & Districts issued a boil water advisory after coliform bacteria were detected in samples from the David Street Water Treatment Plant and the Falconbridge Water Treatment Plant. The advisory covers residents in Sudbury, New Sudbury and Falconbridge.

Dr. Emily Groot, an associate medical officer with Public Health Sudbury & Districts, said the samples from the 2 water plants came back positive on Wednesday. She said the advisory is a precaution and that officials do not believe anyone who drank water from the municipal system will experience negative health effects.

Emily Groot on the test results

Groot said, “Most coliform bacteria are not “harmful in and of themselves,”” and added, “It's very unusual that we would have similar results like this from two totally different treatment plants.” The two plants are separate enough that officials are also looking at whether a testing issue produced a false positive rather than contamination in the supply.

Officials said no residents had gone to a hospital with symptoms consistent with drinking contaminated water. They also said the boil water advisory will stay in place until tests show the water supply is safe.

Sudbury Water Advisory Area

The advisory does not cover Copper Cliff, Coniston, Walden, Garson, Val Caron and area, Azilda, Chelmsford, Dowling, Skead or Onaping. In those communities, residents are not subject to the order that now applies to Sudbury, New Sudbury and Falconbridge.

Officials said the most common cause of contamination is a loss of water pressure in the system, but they do not think that is what happened so far. That leaves the testing results themselves at the center of the response, and the earliest the advisory could end is Friday evening if 2 consecutive water tests taken 24 hours apart show no signs of contamination.

David Street Plant Testing

Groot said, “The most important part is to make sure to let the water cool” when boiling tap water before drinking it. For residents under the advisory, that instruction now sits beside the main question the tests must answer: whether the water supply clears two straight checks, or keeps the advisory in place beyond Friday evening.