Kelowna

The Black Mountain Irrigation District (BMID) has issued a Water Quality Advisory for the entire BMID service area.

That means that infants, the elderly, people with weakened immune systems, and anyone seeking a higher level of protection are advised to boil their drinking water or take extra precautions.

On Sunday, June 24, Mission Creek flows reached an unprecedented peak flow rate of over 100 cubic metres per second. The high flow resulted in a slope failure along upper Mission Creek.

As a result, the District's water treatment plant measured a very high silt load, measured at over 600 turbidity units.

However, officials say the levels of bacteria after disinfection continue to be zero.

Crews were able to let the poorest quality water bypass the system and then treated the residual water.

This residual water will begin flowing through the balancing reservoirs and reaching the public by Thursday afternoon, June 28, with levels between 1.5 and 2.0 turbidity units expected.

This level of turbidity may not be visible to the eye.

BMID has increased monitoring of raw water bacteria levels in Mission Creek and immediately prior to disinfection and confirm that bacteria levels in the raw water remain low.

This advisory is expected to remain in effect for one week. The public will be notified when conditions change or water quality has improved.

BMID says they apologize for any inconvenience this advisory may cause.  If you have any questions, contact Black Mountain Irrigation District office at (250) 765-5169.