What it's like to live through a water main break

The water is safe to drink again in St-Henri, but days after the first of a series of water main breaks, people living near the site of the break are still coping with the aftermath: construction noise, dust and torn-up streets. 

• Saint-Henri boil water advisory cancelled

The break happened on Saturday morning, near the corner of St-Antoine Street and Brewster Avenue.

While the official cause is still under investigation, the break has left a gaping hole in St-Antoine Street and damaged much of Brewster Avenue, which may take up to a week to repair.

A boil water advisory in effect since Saturday was finally lifted Tuesday, but residents' troubles are not over. 

Construction causes headaches

Some residents who live near the site of the break are opting to stay with friends or relatives until the repairs to the street are complete.

Adam Bernett lives just metres from the break on St-Antoine Street, which he says was flooded with "a river" of water on Saturday. 

"The fire department let me into my house, because there was a path [of dry land]. And then I grabbed my stuff and headed over to my girlfriend's place," said Bernett. 

"I basically just haven't been hanging out here for the past couple of days because of the construction and the issues with the water." 

Bottled water

Potentially unsafe drinking water was a hassle for parents of young children like Richard Bartlett, the father of an 11-month-old baby. He lives a block from where the water main break occurred.

"We've just been buying bottled water, frankly. It's easier than boiling water because the temperatures have been relatively high, and the humidity is off the charts," said Bartlett. 

For St-Henri resident Elizabeth Broes, who has a chronic illness and a weakened immune system, the boil water advisory is even more worrisome.

"I brushed my teeth with [unboiled water], I had put it in my Brita pitcher. So since I found out [about the advisory], I threw all the water out, and I threw out my ice cubes," said Broes. 

"If there's any sort of bacteria in the water and I get an infection, I need to go to the emergency room and get emergency antibiotics."

Residents left searching for information

Several residents were unhappy with the way the Southwest borough communicated its boil water advisory.

Bernett, Bartlett and Broes all said they were not informed of the advisory by the borough over the weekend nor on Monday.

"They're all back in the office, and there's no notice, no phone call, no text message from them at all," said Broes, who speculated many people probably never knew about the advisory and continued drinking their water. 

Borough vows to improve communications

The mayor of the Southwest borough, Benoit Dorais, said the borough informed residents of the boil water advisory by placing written notices on doors and by sending out text message alerts through the City's Alertes Citoyennes emergency notice service.

Dorais says he's not sure why some residents didn't get the alerts.

He said the borough will improve its communications strategy in the future.