The citizens of Humboldt faced some water issues last week.
The problems all arose on March 29, when residents of the City were asked to reduce their water usage from 4 a.m on March 30 to mid-day April 1, due to maintenance that needed to be done on the SaskWater Wakaw-Humboldt pipeline.
At that time, the City would be using the reserved wate ;r, so they asked residents to avoid activities involving excessive water use, like laundry, irrigation and any non-essential activities. The water was still safe to drink.
It seemed the reserves the City had on hand were not enough. Only 12 hours after the first notice came into effect, the City was forced to release a Precautionary Drinking Water Advisory (PDWA).
"Due to our water demand the City of Humboldt has not been able to sustain its reserve storage capacity and is required to draw water from the SaskWater Wakaw-Humboldt pipeline earlier than anticipated," stated a notice released on March 30 at 4 p.m.
The notice was issued because there was a possibility there may be problems with the water. Residents were asked to boil water to be used for drinking purposes for at least one minute.
Although the water would be safe to consume after boiling, many residents flocked out to grocery stores to buy water.
The PDWA was lifted by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment on April 1.
"Samples have been collected and returned with good results," stated a letter from the Ministry. "No positive bacteria were found in the samples and all proper measures have been taken to put the water system back into service."
They stated there were no potential health risks for the users of the drinking water system and removed the PDWA.
