'It's been three weeks': Brown water plagues North Kildonan family

A North Kildonan woman says she has been dealing with brown water for three weeks and she isn't sure when it will get better.

A video of brown water the colour of strong coffee pouring into a bathtub in North Kildonan made the rounds on social media Tuesday.

Karleigh Melnyk, who also lives in the Winnipeg neighbourhood, said she's seen similar water numerous times since the middle of July.

"My seven-year-old described it best. She said it was like dark Hershey's chocolate coming out of our taps. It's been on and off for the past three weeks."

She said it started when they came home from the beach and wanted to rinse off.

"Before you knew it, the bathtub was filled with dark, dark brown water. It was a little upsetting, so we packed up and had our showers elsewhere."

Since then, Melnyk's water has ranged from faint yellow to dark brown, and she's not the only one, she said.

"My girlfriend a few doors down, she said she hasn't had it as dark as I have it, but hers has definitely been brown and a light-coloured yellow."

Melnyk said she has made a few reports to the city's 311 line but has not heard when the problem will be fixed.

"I've lived here my whole life. It was never this bad. This year's definitely the worst."

In the meantime, her family is going through lots of bottled water and she called doing laundry "risky business."

Normal number of reports, city says

The city's website states brown water complaints are on par for this year, with 1,422 reports to 311 through July 31. In 2016, there were 1,952 reports in total, the lowest number of reports since 2011. Reports are more numerous in summer than in winter. 

The city has collected statistics on discoloured water since 2009 and saw a spike in the number of brown water complaints in 2012. A consultant identified manganese, one of the chemicals used in the city's water treatment process, as the culprit.

The city made changes and water complaints decreased 46 per cent in 2014. Reports also went down in 2015 and 2016. 

Accidentally ingesting a small amount of brown water is not a health risk, city officials say, but people should not deliberately drink it or use it to prepare food.

My seven-year-old described it best. She said it was like dark Hershey's chocolate coming out of our taps- Karleigh Melnyk

Brown water might discolour laundry.

If you have brown water, run your taps on cold for a few minutes every half hour, the city says. If it doesn't clear up after three hours, call 311.

City Coun. Jeff Browaty said Tuesday, after seeing the social media post of the brown water, that a contractor had caused a water main break while building a car wash on Bonner Avenue. A city of Winnipeg spokesperson said the discolouration in the area of the car wash may continue for a few days after repairs are completed.

Melnyk said Wednesday that she wants to see a permanent solution.

"We call and we run our taps and it clears up for a little bit, then it's back to the way it was."