Bottled-water sales boom, restaurants close as city faces 2nd day of boil-water advisory

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This article was published 28/01/2015 (3914 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Call it a tidal wave of water sales. The precautionary boil-water advisory in Winnipeg since Tuesday evening has meant strong sales for the bottled-water industry in this town.

Take the Food Fare on Portage Avenue, for example. Owner Husni Zeid saw his water inventory disappear in 15 minutes Tuesday night, as people scrambled to get a hold of bottled water. This morning, he picked up some more and started selling cases of bottled water right on the sidewalk in front of the store.

“We sold 75 cases in an hour and a half,” he said. “Cases of 24 bottles. I have 300 (cases) coming right now, 200 12-packs and 125 cases of four-litre jugs.”

That shipment arrived at noon and as staff rushed to get the product on the shelves, potential customers were hanging around, waiting with money in hand for the water bottle-based impromptu sidewalk sale.

“I’m gripped by the paranoia that’s been sweeping our city,” said Justin Harms, tongue firmly planted in his cheek. “Seriously, though, I’ve had some health issues and I figured it would be a good idea to have some water on hand just in case.”

Another customer, a woman who didn’t want to be named, put the last 18 hours of water hoarding in perspective: “People saw the brown water and frozen pipes in the city last year, and they don’t want to be left with no water. This is a different situation but I understand the excitement. You can’t blame them.”

Zeid said he’s been a little shocked at the frenzy for bottled water.

“It’s a convenience thing for people,” he figures. “A lot of people, if they have families with kids, they can just hand them a bottle to take to school. I think maybe people are panicking a little too much, but I understand why that is.”

Over at the Pembina Highway retail location of Corpell’s Water, they sold more in 3.5 hours this morning to walk-in customers than they usually sell in a week.

“It’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. It’s crazy,” said store manager Kurt Friesen. “There are only a handful of bottled water companies in a city of 700,000, so you can do the math.

“We’ve sold more water this morning than we would in an entire week out of this showroom.”

Friesen said Corpell’s does big business in home and office water delivery, but also stocks up retailers like Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart and Domo gas bars.

And they’re trying to keep up with the unprecedented demand.

“We’re trying to top up retailers. We’re coming in and those store shelves are bare of any format (of water),” he said.

While people scramble for bottle water, the food service industry is on standby.

Some restaurants have been forced to cease operations for time being, until the city gives the green light that the water straight out of the tap can be used for things like drinking and washing food.

At Polo Park Shopping Centre, restaurants inside the food court were given a memo from the mall operations shortly after 7:30 a.m. this morning that all food services would be halted until the boil-water advisory was lifted.

“The memo just told us not to open, in the interest of public health,” said Anna-Joy Careme, owner of the Cultures fresh option restaurant. “I understand why. You can’t supervise everyone and make sure they’re being smart with the water.”

Careme, who also owns Cultures at St. Vital Mall, says she relies on the tap water at every turn. Fresh vegetables and salads require washing, which is something she can’t do without a source.

“For some other places, it really won’t be that big a deal. Some places have pre-made food and deep fry everything, so they should be upset that they can’t open now.”

The food court at St. Vital Mall remained open this morning, Careme said. She decided to close her location there just as a precaution.

“It’s the middle of the week, so it’s not too bad. If it was a Friday or a Saturday I’d probably be a little mad, though.”

Derek Ali, manager at the Arby’s at Polo Park, said he’s on the same schedule as everyone else: once the city says the water is clean and there’s no trace of bacteria, he’ll open as soon as possible.

“We only really use the water for washing dishes and through out fountain drink machine,” Ali said. “Washing hands, too. I’m a little surprised that the whole food court is shut down, but I get it.

“Public safety is obviously the No. 1 thing with something like this.”

Ali won’t take much of a hit sales-wise if the boil-water advisory ends this afternoon. If the caution extends into another evening, though, the lack of business will be noticed at the register, he said.

Manitoba Restaurant and Food Services Association executive director Scott Jocelyn said some places have closed for the day, while most others have stayed open but are doing things differently to ensure the health and safety of their customers.

“Some have certainly erred on the side of caution,” he said. “Others are doing business with a different routine than on a regular day.”

He said that means things like placing a bottle of water on tables instead of a glass of water, or heating water to a much higher temperature when making coffee.

“It’s been a challenge to get the message out to everyone, but this is where social media can be really helpeful,” Jocelyn said. “We work closely with the health department, and we’ve piggybacked with them to send messages out to ensure our members are aware… ensuring we’re doing things safely.”

Meanwhile, today the University of Manitoba has put bags over all their water fountains and have signs up. The food services are operating, but options are limited to bottled products, and no fountain drinks.

Red River College has shut down Jane’s restaurant and its cafe at the culinary arts school downtown — so far, only for today — and is providing bottled water to the college’s day care centre. RRC is providing updates at http://media.rrc.ca/news/advisories/.

Red River College is supplying bottled water to students in residence.

Winnipeg schools have been encouraging parents to send their kids to school with bottled water, or boil and bottle water for them to drink.

“We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible,” said Seven Oaks School Division superintendent Brian O’Leary.

“We’ve taped garbage bags over the water fountains. The ones that have filters, we’ll be replacing them before we use them again,” O’Leary said.

“The schools will be boiling some water. The cafeterias will offer some items, and not others. There’s a significant run on bottled beverages,” O’Leary said.

At the Pembina Trails School Division, “our fountains have been shut off and classes are running as scheduled,” said a school official.

“We notified our community yesterday asking parents to send bottled or boiled water with their kids today. Our high school cafeterias are closed his week due to exams,” she said.

The Winnipeg School Division said that schools are coping well, with no cancellations of any events or activities. Because high schools are writing exams, there are fewer students in the buildings than usual, and food services have not been available all week.

“School life seems to be as normal as can be today,” said a Pembina Trails School Division official. “ Our fountains have been shut off and classes are running as scheduled.

“We notified our community yesterday asking parents to send bottled or boiled water with their kids today. Our high school cafeterias are closed his week due to exams,” she said.

It was business as usual for the staff at George’s Burgers & Subs on Wednesday morning. The only thing off the menu was the coffee, Anita Bauer said.

“No coffee, but we have tea,” she said. “I put on a big pot of water to boil when I came in so we’d have some water for customers. It’s in the cooler right now, as it’s still a little warm.

“I hope this (the boil-water advisory) doesn’t last too much longer, though.”