The City of Winnipeg is getting swamped with calls about dirty, discoloured tap water.
The city’s 311 service line has taken 1,286 discoloured water complaint calls this August alone, more than double the 595 calls in August 2012, city officials told Global News Friday.
Dirty brown water is leaving a bad taste in Winnipeggers’ mouths while hitting them hard in their pocketbooks.
Instead of clean, crisp white clothes coming out of the washing, many tell Global News they are finding stained and dirty shirts.
“I’ve had to wash the same load of laundry four times and the stains still aren’t out,” said Marlo Boux.
Get breaking National news
After rewashing her laundry in cold water and vinegar multiple times, Boux said she’s had to throw out a number of garments.
“They’re wrecked. Completely wrecked,” she said. “It’s very frustrating.”
The city can’t seem to pinpoint what the problem is.
The brown water is popping up in communities around the city.
“It smells primarily,” said Norm Keener. “This year is the worst it’s been. We have black mould around the top of the toilet tank and insulation.”
Keener said his wife is forced to clean and disinfect the toilet tank and shower every week.
Corpell’s Water told Global News it has increased business by at least 10 per cent since the problem started.
“We are seeing more business coming in through the doors, more people wanting purified water,” said sales manager Ryan Feener. “(People) don’t want to get home in the evening and worry about what’s coming out of their tap.”
The city said it is still investigating what the cause of the problem is but has said it could be increased usage.
It is reminding residents to run their taps for at least 30 minutes or until the water runs clear.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.