Shoppers stock up on water

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This article was published 28/01/2015 (3915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Harvey Osiowy and his Laxdal Road neighbours thought they had their fill of city water problems last winter. Now their cups overfloweth once again — not with water, but with more water problems.

The beleaguered residents of that Charleswood community were boiling their water Tuesday night, along with the rest of the city.

“I don’t even know what to say. Now I’ve got to start hauling in more water. Dja vu, how’s that?” said Osiowy, whose wife is battling cancer. “This last year has been hell. This is just another thing in our lives to handle. But I’m glad that the mayor pushed it for the whole city. That’s impressive.”

Last winter, from Dec. 29, 2013 to Jan. 5, 2014, after a water-main break flooded the street, ditches and several driveways, Osiowy and others in the area were without water intermittently as several more breaks occurred. Residents stockpiled drinking water and obtained some from city-supplied water trucks parked in the neighbourhood, but were forced to bathe at others’ homes or at workplaces.

Within 30 minutes of the city issuing the advisory Tuesday evening, several shoppers at the Sobeys on Keewatin Street had filled their carts with bottled water. As the evening wore on, some retail outlets ran out of bottled water.

“I suspect it will all be over tomorrow, but who knows? I find it incredulous that we should have that kind of thing happen. But nothing surprises me anymore,” said Jim Watling.

Kevin Tetu bought nine litres and 48 500-millilitre bottles at Sobeys, but said he didn’t expect the advisory to last very long. “It will clean them right out. Unless they’ve got a bunch of pallets hidden in the back,” Tetu said. He said a store employee told him there were 100 cases of 24 500-ml bottles before the run started, but 30 minutes later, there were about 10 left.

Marleen Pollok filled two jugs and bought four cases of bottled water to supply five children aged five to 23.

“I have little guys that want to take a bath every day. And I’m scared to put them in a bath. I don’t want them to get sick. That’s what I’m worried about, the safety,” she said.

Sammy Mittelstadt, president of World of Water International Ltd. based in Winnipeg, said Winnipeggers were able to purchase bottled water at most of the city’s 10 World of Water locations, which reopened Tuesday night after the city-wide boil-water advisory was issued.

“We’ve never been in a situation where the whole city has been on a boil-water alert. We had it, I think two summers ago, in the south side of the city. We were fortunate that it ended pretty quick, but in that 24 hours I remember the phones were ringing off the hook and the stores were lined up with people,” Mittelstadt said.

“This is completely different. We’ve got to take care of our existing customers and then try to help out as many people as we can. We’ve got contracts with a lot of major corporations and the hospitals, so we’ll be looking after them.”

CrossFit 204 owner/coach Mike Warkentin posted a notice on the website for his gym, known as a CrossFit box, advising clients to “please bring bottled water or boiled water from home. Do not drink the water at the gym. We are trying to find bottled water, but have not been able to do so as yet, so please come prepared with safe drinking water.”

Brian O’Leary, the chairman of the Metro Winnipeg Superintendents, told the Free Press there will be no city school closures today.

“All Winnipeg schools will open tomorrow, but with the water advisory issued by the City of Winnipeg, we are asking parents to send bottled or boiled water with their children,” said O’Leary, who is also the Seven Oaks School Division superintendent.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca
randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca