Hedley residents are once again relying on bottled water after a do-not-consume order was issued.
The order was put in place September 10 and updated Monday September 23.
According to a notice on an Interior Health website “a do not consume notice tells you that there are harmful chemicals or other bad things in the water that can make you sick and that you CANNOT make the water safe by boiling it. The water can make you sick if you consume (swallow) it.”
Approximately 240 people live in Hedley.
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A spokesperson for Interior Health told The Spotlight that the order was issued locally, by the Hedley Improvement District, which is responsible for the small village’s water system.
Efforts to reach the HID were unsuccessful, as the phone number associated with the group appears to go directly to a fax line.
Hedley resident Kim English said she was told the order was put in place after a higher-than-acceptable coliform reading was detected.
“The water is risky to drink,” she said.
Related: Some Hedley residents upset with lack of notification of drinking water problems
English said she was later informed that the system was flushed with chlorine and the HID is awaiting results of a further test.
“This is just an ongoing concern that residents need to be aware of…It [the system] was poorly maintained for so long and these are our consequences.”
Hedley was also put under a do-not-consume order in December 2018, when coliform levels spiked.
The community has also experienced ongoing elevated arsenic levels in its water, which means it is unsafe to boil in order to consume.
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