Water is now safe to drink on the BC Ferries vessel the Queen of Oak Bay, following an incident involving floor cleaner.
On Monday, May 6, a crew member accidentally poured the toxic chemical cleaner into the vessel’s portable water supply prompting the crew to turn off access.
The vessel continued to be in service through the day and into Tuesday evening, relying on bottled water that was loaded at docking while BC Ferries waited for bacteriological testing to return.
Reet Sidhu, spokesperson with the ferry corporation, said the water tank was flushed out several times in addition to the testing.
“I would absolutely not say this is a common or regular occurrence,” Sidhu said. “We ensured that bottled water was readily available immediately and we also brought on barrels of potable water on the vessel to help our crew with anything they may need it for in the kitchen.”
As of 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, BC Ferries advised that the water had been determined to be safe to drink and taps had been turned back on.
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