Tuesday morning update on water situation

NEWS RELEASE

PUC SERVICES

************************* Public appeal - water emergency The affected area includes all residents west of Black Road, east of Peoples Road and north of MacDonald that are on municipal water. Water supply to the affected area continues to be stable and reliability of the system continues to improve with time as repairs to damaged equipment are completed.

Water quality is and always has been completely safe for consumption. PUC Services would like to express its sincere gratitude to a broad range of people and organizations that assisted and supported the response to this emergency. We would like to thank the City Public Works Department and their staff for their invaluable support in assisting Saturday along with their portable diesel pump to evacuate the flooded booster station.

Without their timely help, water supply would likely not have been maintained. A special thanks to Porpealia Repairs for their diving services and Gord Frost Automotive for assistance in restoring the diesel pump engines. Thanks also to various other firms that assisted in the response, including S&T Electric, Lajoie Brothers Contracting, Conestoga Rovers & Associates, Propane Depot, Traction Heavy Duty Parts and Algoma Auto Electric. Our sincerest thanks to the numerous PUC employees that sacrificed their Thanksgiving weekend and worked very long hours to respond to this emergency. Also, we wish to thank the residents of Sault Ste. Marie for their understanding and cooperation throughout this event. The emergency status remains in effect until all systems are restored to normal operation.

Further updates will be provided as more information becomes available. *************************