Winnipeggers skeptical of tap water

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2016 (3803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeggers trust their tap water less than people in any other major city in Western Canada, recent data show.

Just over half of Winnipegers — 54 per cent — use tap water as their primary source of drinking water, says a group called The 10 and 3, a data journalism website.

The group plumbs data often overlooked in previous surveys. In this case, its focus is a 2013 Households and Environment Survey by Statistics Canada.

On average, two-thirds of Canadians drink from the tap. The level is close to 80 per cent in Western Canada.

But not in Winnipeg. The data group suggests the problems with brown water in Winnipeg taps is likely a factor.

Winnipeggers have been experiencing brown water every summer since the city began operating a new water treatment facility in 2010. The plant uses ferric chloride, which is the primary source of the increase in manganese that makes the water brown.

Last year, Winnipeg was put under a boil-water advisory after tests indicated possible fecal contamination of the drinking water. The testing proved erroneous.

In Victoria, 88 per cent of residents drink from the tap, 79 per cent in Vancouver, and 78 per cent in Calgary.

Cities like Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont., St. Catharine’s, Ont., Saint John, N.B., and Moncton, N.B., are much like Winnipeg, with almost half of residents eschewing tap water.