WINNIPEG – Mayor Sam Katz is being hit at home by the brown water flowing from city taps.
“Wednesday night, to my surprise, coming in from an event, my daughter started yelling, ‘Daddy, there’s brown water!’ “ Katz told Morning News anchor Eva Kovacs on Friday. “We need some definitive answers to why this is happening … For our citizens to go through this isn’t right.”
Katz said on the Morning News that he hopes to know soon why so many Winnipeggers across the city are dealing with brown water flowing from their taps.
“I’m hoping within the week or so, we’ll get some real indication of what’s going on and what has to be done to address it,” he said.
Brown water reports are common in Winnipeg in summer but not the number of reports being received this year said Katz.
Experts have examined several samples of the discoloured water.
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“Overall the main problem was iron and we did find a fair bit of manganese as well,” said University of Winnipeg water quality expert, Eva Pip. “Most of the discolouration was coming from rust in the water. It would be the same thing as if you were drinking rust flakes. Because they are suspended in the water, they have sharp edges and that can irritate your intestine and it would give you a little bit of diarrhea.”
In August, the city received 1,673 complaints to its 311 telephone line about brown water. There were 595 reports of brown water in August 2012 said city officials.
“It was so brown, I was kind of freaked out,” said Christopher Harper, who had discoloured water Friday. “I turned the tap off and phoned 311.”
The problem clears up on its own at the end of each summer and it’s important that the city figure out what’s wrong before that happens said Katz.
“We have our professional staff working on it. We’ve also hired an outside consultant, as well, and we need an answer.”
Katz said his family is fortunate because the water cleared up quickly, but he knows that’s not the case for many people.
“I am drinking the water but I will tell you this, if it came out really brown, like I’ve seen, no, I would not drink it even though our regulators say it’s safe,” he said. “I wouldn’t drink it and I wouldn’t ask anybody else to drink it.”
If the brown water has ruined any of your belongings, you can file a claim for reimbursement. However, you might not get the results you’d like. The city has been found not at fault in all 66 claims processed so far this year. Another 14 are still being assessed
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