Update (Tuesday, June 25, 9 a.m.): The District of Lake Country, in conjunction with Interior Health, has lifted the water quality advisory effective immediately for those relying on Okanagan Lake as their domestic water source.
Power has now been restored to the Okanagan Lake pumphouse, the system has been checked and the system has returned to normal operations.
Original (Monday, June 25, 10 a.m.): Lake Country has posted a water quality advisory for district residents who rely on Okanagan Lake as their water source.
Due to a power outage following Monday morning’s intense windstorm, an emergency water supply from the Beaver Lake will be supplied to the Okanagan Lake customers.
Although turbidity is currently less than 1NTU on the Beaver Lake source, this source has fluctuating turbidity and remains on an advisory.
NTU (Formazin Nephelometric Units) provides the method in water quality for the determination of turbidity by assessing the concentration of suspended particles in a sample of water by measuring the incident light scattered at right angles from the sample. A reading of <1 NTU is considered good, 1-5 NTU fair and >5 NTU poor.
This supply is only temporary and district expects to be back on the Okanagan Lake source as soon as power is restored today.
For the interim, Interior Health recommends that children, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems and anyone seeking additional protection drink boiled water or a safe alternative until further notice.
For these at-risk populations, water intended for drinking, washing fruits or vegetables, making juice or ice, or brushing teeth should be boiled for one minute.
Particles can interfere with the disinfection process and may reduce chlorine treatment effectiveness. Turbidity in the good and fair range are invisible to the human eye.
Health risks increase as turbidity rises, particularly for at-risk populations such as newborns, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.
Contaminants such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites can attach themselves to the suspended particles in turbid water.
Without treatment these particles can then interfere with disinfection, limiting chlorine’s ability to remove or inactivate the contaminants.
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