Residents in Sainte-Dorothée district of Laval can now use water, but still not drink it | CBC News

Residents in the Sainte-Dorothée district of Laval, Que., can now use water to wash and bathe, but they still can’t drink it.

This comes after a non-use advisory issued Tuesday forced everybody in the area to stop using the water for everything but flushing the toilet.

The water couldn’t even be used if boiled, and the city was warning people about taking showers with it as it could have caused skin irritation or gastrointestinal distress if consumed.

The contamination may have been caused by a chemical product used by firefighters during an intervention Tuesday morning, Laval said Wednesday.

“The latest tests show that the substance is no longer present in the municipal water pipes in the Sainte-Dorothée area,” Laval said in a statement Thursday, insisting the situation is on its way toward resolution soon.

Therefore, until further notice, citizens can use the water for bathing or washing after flushing their residential pipes, but it still cannot be ingested, even when boiled.

“This precaution is still necessary due to the purging operations conducted on the network by the city’s teams until more in-depth analysis results confirm that the water can be consumed again,” the city says.

Laval offers instructions on how to flush residential plumbing. Those instructions include opening all taps in the house for a minimum of 20 minutes or until the water is clear, colourless and there is no detectable soap odour.

Residents are also encouraged to renew the water in their hot water tank by running the hot water for at least 20 minutes.

Once finished, flush the outdoor faucets as well as other appliances in the residence such as the dishwasher and laundry machine.

More information can be found on the city’s website.