Brainerd water is now safe to drink.
As of 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, Brainerd Public Utilities (BPU) lifted the water boil order after all 40 new tests came back negative for bacteria.
"This is unbelievable news," said BPU Superintendent Scott Magnuson. "We can now get restaurants back running and convenience stores and schools back online."
Forty new tests were ordered Monday in effort to end the water boil order issued for the city of Brainerd.
Per the agreement with Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the city will now have to chlorinate its water for 30 days. That could be extended a few days longer, depending on when the water tower repair is done.
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The water will probably smell and taste like chlorine for a couple of days as BPU continues to pump high levels of chlorine through the pipes in effort to reach every point of the city.
The chlorine level will be brought back down to normal levels for the duration of the 30 or so days after that, Magnuson said.
Right now, three parts per billion is being used. The normal amount when chlorinating is one part per billion.
Bacteria was first found Friday in one of the 12 tests conducted on Brainerd's drinking water system, prompting the water boil order until further notice, as well as a system-wide chlorination.
The test was conducted after a drop in water pressure that resulted from a broken water line near Kiwanis Park and prevented the water tower at the site of the former Brainerd State Hospital from filling overnight. That water tower, which holds 750,000 gallons, is being used because the city's main water tower, located near downtown and which holds 1 million gallons, is out of commision while it's being worked on.
The water boil order was originally expected to last a week minimum, but in an effort to get businesses up and running and residents' daily routines back, MDH offered the option that was approved by the BPU Commission Monday.
At the next regular meeting of the BPU Commission, officials will discuss the idea of possible permanent chlorination of the city's water.
The city attorney will also read through the city charter to determine if permanent use of chlorine in city water would require an action from city council, or what city government body would have the final say.
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Brainerd has the largest unchlorinated drinking water system in the state.
For more than three decades, the state has been trying to get city officials to change that.
The state can't force Brainerd to permanently chlorinate its water, but MDH strongly recommends it.
One pipe on Riverside Drive does have bleach put in it.
Baxter has utilized chlorination since the first water treatment plant in the city was built in 1979.
BPU has chlorinated the water system at least twice in the past, once in 2009 following a positive test for total coliform bacteria near a construction site and once in 1987.
While total coliform bacteria itself is harmless, it can be an indicator of the presence of more harmful bacteria, such as the pathogen E. coli. No E. coli was found in the system in either round of the most recent rests.
