Murky water is playing havoc with a Northwest BC First Nation’s water treatment plant.
The Witset First Nation is advising residents to conserve water as high turbidity in the community’s water source has made it untreatable.
Council Executive Director Lucy Gagnon says a recent spike in turbidity readings of 1100 NTUs has forced staff to shut down the plant, which is only designed to manage turbidity levels of up to 350 NTUs.
Gagnon says heavy snow, followed by uneven spring and summer rainfall, and constantly changing conditions upstream are causing unpredictable water quality coming in to the plant.
Witset Maintenance Supervisor Clayton Michell says his crew will continue to do its best to ensure clean, potable water is fed into the community when the water is treatable.
The Nation is looking at long-term solutions to the water quality issue, but says it may take some time before a fix can be found.
