BURSTFollowing years of concern and a “do not consume” order issued in December 2025, Granisle residents may finally be on the verge of having a safe, stable water supply.
A consultant’s report issued last week concludes that, pending approval by Northern Health, the water produced by the Granisle water treatment system, “may be considered potable for normal domestic use.”
A timeline for Northern Health’s acceptance or rejection of the assessment has yet to be established.
Village of Granisle mayor Linda McGuire said the Village has been legally advised not to comment on the assessment.
“However, we do remain hopeful we are headed in the right direction,” she said.
The first sign of trouble came in late August 2025 when tests indicated the presence of total coliform bacteria in the village’s water system.
A Sept. 4, 2025, Village of Granisle advisory stated that bacteria are naturally present in the environment and are generally not harmful, but “do indicate an increased chance that organisms causing intestinal illness may also be present.”
It was during remediation of that problem that another, potentially greater, problem was discovered. Northern Health requested raw water versus treated water testing for metal analysis that identified an elevated aluminum content in the water.
The increase in aluminum content was beyond what is considered safe, the Northern Health analysis revealed and on Dec. 15, 2025, a “do not consume” order was issued.
Following work done by Purifics, the supplier of the water treatment system, the village hired a third party, L&M Engineering, a civil engineering firm out of Prince George, to conduct testing on the system.
“The assessment indicates that the initial non-potable water conditions were most likely caused by a combination of excessive aluminum chlorohydrate dosing, HSC tank solids accumulation, residual particulate carryover, insufficient solids management, and localized distribution system water age or stagnation effects,” L&M concluded in its report.
Aluminum chlorohydrate is a coagulant used to remove turbidity, suspended solids, organic matter, and nutrients (such as phosphorus) by binding these contaminants into dense, heavy clumps (called flocs) for easy settling and filtration. The HSC tank is a container in which raw water is collected before being passed through the filtration system.
L&M found that the Granisle plant was dosing the water at 20mg/L of coagulant, more than twice the recommended dose of 7mg/L. This also likely led to a build up of floc in the HSC tank, the study found.
After reducing the coagulant dose to 7mg/L (and later to 5mg/L), cleaning and repeatedly rinsing of the HSC tank, and operational changes, the engineers found measurable improvement in turbidity and aluminum concentrations.
“This supports the interpretation that the initial non-potable condition was operationally driven and correctable through improved chemical dosing, solids management, maintenance, flushing, and monitoring,” the report stated.
The report makes a number of recommendations including: continuing operating with the adjusted coagulant level and ongoing monitoring; adopting a formal preventative maintenance regime on the HSC tank; continuous monitoring and maintenance on the plant’s ceramic ultrafiltration units (CUF); ongoing inspection and cleaning of other water plant components; adopting a distribution system flushing program; reducing organic contaminants through continued optimization of coagulant dosing; and strengthening operator training and operational documentation.
Meanwhile, a class action lawsuit against the Village of Granisle and Purifics is making its way through the B.C. court system.
Filed in February of this year, the civil claim alleges problems with the design, operation, and monitoring of the treatment plant from its inception in 2018, allowed aluminum to leak into the water supply, and that the village failed to adequately investigate, maintain, and monitor the system, and failed to warn people about the potential risk.
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Long-term exposure to elevated levels of aluminum in drinking water has been linked to neurodegenerative and neurological diseases, cognitive problems, and bone diseases.