Angry homeowner invites mayor for glass of brown water

A Winnipeg woman is threatening to stop paying some of her water bill and charge the city for the cost of buying bottled water, as officials continue to struggle to find a solution to the brown water problem.

Brenda Maxwell also issued an invitation Monday for Mayor Sam Katz, Water and Waste Department Director Diane Sacher over to her house for a glass of water. She included a picture of murky brown liquid, which resembled tea more than water.

Several Winnipeg neighbourhoods have been plagued by discoloured water for the last several months. Officials have insisted it’s an aesthetic problem, not a health risk, but have also advised against drinking it. City councillors have already taken the first step in approving compensation for residents whose laundry has been stained by the water, which experts say contains higher than normal levels of rust. But there is no compensation for residents who have been buying bottled water.

“This is completely unacceptable and has gone on LONG ENOUGH with no resolution,” Maxwell writes in an open letter. “I am NOT paying my entire water bill when it comes AND I will be submitting my water bottle bills to the Water and Waste Dept for reimbursement. Why do they think we will pay for a service that we are not receiving?”

Water and Waste director Sacher said the issue is not costing residents much money, claiming Monday that running water for five minutes should clear up the problem and that only costs about 25 cents. She suggested the brown water isn’t that great an inconvenience. “It’s discoloured only, so there’s nothing harmful in there, my suggestion is water plants use it in the garden,” she said.

Katz told Global News Monday he wouldn’t be taking up Maxwell on her invitation, saying he has brown water at his own house. “I’ve got my own,” he said.

Katz says compensation is possible someone can prove they have had brown water constantly over a long period of time. When Global News visited Maxwell’s house Monday, her water was already clearing up. But she says the problem reappears frequently.

Some experts have linked the rusty water problem to the city’s aging system of water mains, many of which are a century old. The city has hired a consultant to try and track down the problem once and for all; that report isn’t due until November.