Approximately 790 homes in Cherry Creek, near Port Alberni, BC, will need to keep boiling their tap water through the Canada Day holiday weekend as a boil water advisory remains in effect. The Cherry Creek Waterworks District says testing delays caused by holiday lab closures mean the advisory cannot be lifted until at least next week.
The trouble started last week when a tree fell on a BC Hydro power line, cutting electricity to the chlorination plant that treats the community’s drinking water. Without power, the disinfection system stopped working, and the district issued the advisory to protect residents.
Under Island Health rules, the advisory can only end after two consecutive water samples, taken at least 24 hours apart, come back clean. But with July 1 falling mid-week, most labs are closed for the holiday, putting the testing on hold. The district says it is working to complete the sampling as quickly as possible but cannot give a firm date for lifting the advisory.
Cherry Creek’s water system draws from Cold Creek and stores water at Lacy Lake before treating it with chlorine. The current boil water advisory means all tap water must be brought to a rolling boil for at least one minute before drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, or washing food. The district serves around 790 homes with roughly 38 kilometres of water mains, some of which date back to 1958.
This is not the first time Cherry Creek has faced a boil water advisory over a long weekend. A similar advisory was issued in August 2024 after a water main break forced residents to boil water through the BC Day weekend.
The Cherry Creek Waterworks District has provided water and fire protection to the area since 1957. A five-member board of trustees oversees the system, and residents voted in June 2025 to keep the district independent rather than join the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District.
