Living with a boil water advisory means that you will have to make changes to how you use water in your home. The following are some key points to remember in order to keep your family healthy.

Use boiled or bottled water for drinking, making infant formula and juices, cooking, making ice, washing fruits, vegetables or brushing teeth. Bring your water to a rapid rolling boil and boil it for one minute. Place the pot on the back burner to avoid scalds and boil only as much as you can lift without spilling. Throw out all ice, disinfect the ice cube trays and make ice using boiled, cooled water.

Adults and teens can shower in untreated water as long as they don't swallow it. Older children can be given a shower with a hand held showerhead, avoiding the face, and younger children can be sponge bathed because they are likely to swallow tub water.

1. If the boil water advisory has been issued as a precautionary measure and there is no outbreak of human illness, there is no need for additional hand disinfection with bleach solution or alcohol.
2. If the boil water advisory has been issued due to an outbreak, water can be used for handwashing after the following treatment: place 1.5 oz (about 45 mL) of liquid household bleach in 10 gallons (45 litres) of water. Mix and let stand for at least 10 minutes prior to use.
3. If your child has been ill with diarrhea wash toys with soap and water and then disinfect with a freshly prepared bleach solution (1/4 cup (about 60 mL) bleach in 1 gallon (4.5 litres) of water). Dip toys into this solution and air-dry them. Cloth and plush toys could be washed or dry-cleaned.

Other points to remember:

• Your dishwasher is safe to use if it has a hot setting. Otherwise after the cycle, soak dishes for one minute in a bleach solution of 1 oz (30 mL) bleach to 3 gallons (13.5 litres) water.
• Use boiled water or a bleach solution (see above) for hand washing dishes.
• Filtered water is NOT safe for drinking and cooking and should be brought to a rolling boil for one minute before using.
• The water is not safe to fill a child's wading pool.
• You can continue doing laundry the way you usually do.
• When the BWA is lifted, run cold water faucets for 1 minute before using; flush garden hoses by running cold water through them for 1 minute; run water softeners through a regeneration cycle. And drain and refill hot water heaters set below 45o C (normal setting is 60o C).

For more information about staying healthy during the Boil Water Advisory, call our inspection department at 807-625-5900 or toll-free (in 807 area) 1-888-294-6630. You may also contact your branch office in the Thunder Bay Distict.