Precautionary Boil Water Advisory Owen Sound – Update #2 – Encouraging Water Trends and Bottled Water Availability

The City of Owen Sound water system users remain under a precautionary boil water advisory.  A dedicated page on the City’s website at OwenSound.ca/BoilWaterAdvisory has been created and will continue to be updated regularly.

Thank you to residents and water users for continuing to be diligent and patient in their efforts to practise safe water consumption, water conservation, and sharing updates with neighbours. 

Is there bottled water available for residents?

Thanks to generous support from Bruce Power and Ice River Springs, there is a limited supply of bottled water available for residents to pick up today.

The City is working with Grey County, Supportive Outreach Services (SOS), United Way Bruce Grey, OShaRE, and the Salvation Army to ensure that vulnerable individuals within the community have access to bottled water.

Bottled water will be available at the Public Works Administration building (1900 20th Street East) beginning at 2:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. while supplies last. One case per car. 

Bottled water distribution hours are limited due to forecasted winter weather advisories for this evening.

When will this be over?

This situation is different from a typical infrastructure issue where something breaks and there’s a clear, step‑by‑step fix and clearly identified dates; identify the problem, order parts, make repairs, and return to normal operations.

In this case, the City’s water system itself is functioning as designed. The challenge we’re dealing with is high turbidity, or cloudiness, in the source water coming into the treatment plant. That condition is largely influenced by natural factors such as weather, runoff, and lake conditions, which means it isn’t something we can repair on a fixed timeline.

The good news is that we are seeing encouraging trends. The precautionary boil water advisory, combined with residents’ efforts to reduce water use, has helped stabilize the system, and staff are cautiously optimistic. That said, we do need to see continued conservation and continued improvement in turbidity levels.

Optimistically, if these positive trends continue, we would hope that by Wednesday, March 18, the water treatment plant and system may be in a position where lifting the precautionary boil water advisory can be considered.

Any decision to lift the advisory will require careful review and consultation with Grey Bruce Public Health and the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) to ensure all health and safety requirements are met.

We recognize this is inconvenient for residents and businesses, and we truly appreciate the cooperation shown so far. Ultimately, protecting public health and safety has to come first, and the advisory will be lifted as soon as it is safe to do so.

While the boil water advisory continues, the City will post a daily media release at OwenSound.ca/News to keep the community informed. Residents are strongly encouraged to subscribe to City news at OwenSound.ca/Subscribe to receive an email directly with the media release containing new or updated information.

For more information, please contact Tim Simmonds, City Manager, at 519-376-4440 ext. 1210 or email tsimmonds@owensound.ca

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