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The hot-water system at four University of B.C. buildings was last month found to be contaminated with up to almost nine times the recommended limit of nitrites.

UBC admitted to Postmedia News on Friday that the water from the hot taps had been contaminated due to faulty exchange units that allowed nitrites — which inhibit corrosion — into the drinking water system. The cold water supply was not affected.

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Two of the buildings where contaminated water was recorded are residences that house almost 200 students, while almost 300 staff work in the other two.

At one building, Sherwood Lett House, levels of nitrites — which inhibit corrosion in the system that heats hot water — were found to be almost nine times higher than Health Canada drinking water guidelines, said UBC building operations manager Karyn Magnusson.

Odours were first reported coming from the hot water taps at the Friedman Addition, which was built in 1967 and is part of the health sciences complex near the campus centre. An independent company traced the smell to chemicals in the the water-heating system, Magnusson said.