The largest boil water advisory in Brandon history is now over.

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The largest boil water advisory in Brandon history is now over.

The City of Brandon announced Wednesday afternoon that the Medical Officer of Health has rescinded the advisory after tests showed the city’s water to be safe.

The advisory was implemented Monday, after a water main near the water treatment plant burst. The break to the concrete main resulted in a drop in water pressure across southwest portions of the city.

While city crews isolated the broken main and restored pressure after about six hours, the boil water advisory was issued as a precaution and remained in place until Wednesday’s announcement. It covered an area south of the Assiniboine River and west of 18th Street to city limits and applied to an estimated 6,500 homes and 250 businesses.

The city says two sets of bacteriological tests were performed on a series of water samples taken 24 hours apart, and the results met regulatory standards.

As a result, Parks and Recreation Services was expected to reopen the Valleyview and Westridge spray parks by 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Residents or businesses that have questions can contact the city’s underground utilities section during business hours at 204-729-2285.

Further information regarding boil water advisories, including the following list of steps residents should take after an advisory is lifted, is available at manitoba.ca/drinking water. When the water supply is declared safe again, as it has in this case:

• Flush out your household water pipes to ensure they contain safe water before using them. To do this, turn on one hot water tap and let it run until the water is cold. This will drain the hot water heater and refill it with safe water.

• Then, turn on all your cold water taps, faucets, fountains, showerheads and outside hose spigots and let them run for five minutes.

• Remove and clean all screens on taps and faucets.

• Run water softeners through a regeneration cycle.

• Replace any water filter cartridges in water treatment devices and follow the maintenance instructions in the owner’s manual.

Note: Private well owners should only use well water after a water test confirms it is safe to drink again.