SUDBURY -- Public Health Sudbury & Districts has issued a drinking water advisory effective immediately for the residents of Chapleau.

A drinking water advisory means people who take their water from the municipal system should not use it for the following uses: drinking; making juice, infant formula or ice; cooking; washing uncooked fruits and vegetables; or, brushing teeth.

"Boiling the water may not make it safe for drinking," the health unit said in a news release Wednesday evening. "For these purposes, water from an alternate source such as bottled water should be used. Bottled water used for making infant formula must still be boiled."

For information on how to properly prepare infant formula using bottled water, please call Public Health’s Health Information Line at 705-522-9200, ext. 342, toll-free 1.866.522.9200.

The water can be used for laundry and bathing, excluding small children who could swallow the water.

"Once the Town of Chapleau has re-established the water supply, which was interrupted due to loss of pressure as a result of a water main break, residents should not use the water for human consumption until advised otherwise by Public Health Sudbury & Districts," the release said.

“It is possible that the loss of water pressure created conditions that compromised the safety of the drinking water,” Burgess Hawkins, a manager in the Health Protection Division, said in the release. “Until bacteriological testing of the drinking water indicates a safe supply, the drinking water advisory will remain in effect as a precaution.”

Public Health Sudbury & Districts staff will notify the municipality when the drinking water advisory is lifted and residents will be advised.

For more information, call Public Health Sudbury & Districts at 705.522.9200, ext. 464 (toll-free 1.866.522.9200) or visit www.phsd.ca