Boil Water Advisory lifted in Rainy River

By Ken Johnston
Editor

Rainy River residents can breath a sigh of relief now that the Boil Water Advisory has been lifted.
Nearly two weeks to the hour the word came through Friday at 3:15 p.m. that the Boil Water Advisory had been lifted. Residents can now consume the water from their taps without fear of any parasites getting through.
Mayor Debbie Ewald was relieved when the advisory was lifted and noted that all the parts for the necessary upgrades to the plant have been ordered and some of the work has been started. “Once we have all the parts the improvements to the plant will be completed in a timely fashion,” said Ewald Monday.
Rainy River Town Clerk Veldron Vogan told the Record that the main problem was that the plant was built in the 1970s and its control mechanisms needed to be upgraded. “The issue is how long filters are back washed or cleaned,” explained Vogan. “Emo’s plant is newer than ours and they can set a dial to run a process for a set length of time. Ours does not allow for that,” she added.
However, after an engineer visited the plant and submitted a report and the Town Foreman Bob Jenson put a plan in action to rectify the problems the Ministry of Environment recommended that the advisory be lifted. That happened Friday afternoon.
Roadrunner Motel owner Rob Cooper, who was in a meeting with town council when the word came through on the fax machine Friday had been critical of the town for not providing bottled water free of charge during the advisory. “I had no choice but to provide my guests with bottled water at my expense. I hope that the next time there is an advisory the town will look at providing free bottled water as they do in other places when this happens.”
Mayor Deb Ewald said, “We hope there is never another advisory but welcome your input.”