Bad Halifax hospital water won't be fixed for years

The water at a Halifax hospital is unsafe to drink and a solution is at least five years away, officials say. 

Patients at the Centennial Building, part of the Capital District Health Authority, can’t drink the water or use it to brush their teeth. Those with weakened immune systems are warned to be careful bathing.

Bad water has plagued the hospital for decades. It was opened in 1967 and by the 1980s water problems associated with legionnaire’s disease — a potentially fatal type pneumonia — emerged.

Patients are given bottled water. That’s been the solution for 23 years.

Tear it down

Health Minister and NDP candidate Dave Wilson said the Centennial Building shouldn't have a future. 

“The solution is to demolish the Centennial Building,” he said. “It begs the question of why this work hadn’t taken place years ago.”

Chris Power, CEO of Capital Health, said they’ve tried three different methods to get rid of the bacteria, but none has eliminated it.

“The only way to deal with it is to completely take out the pipes and put in a whole new water system and that wasn't reasonable at the time,” she said.

The solution is to demolish the Centennial Building.- Health Minister Dave Wilson

She said the bottled water, which was first handed out in 1990, remains the best fix.

“We have signs everywhere. People are told when they come in and when they go. I think for the most part people pay attention to that,” Power said.

Legionnaire’s is only an issue for people who have compromised immune systems. The Centennial Building is home to cancer patients and people in palliative care; all have weakened immune systems.  

Capital Health wasn't able to say how many bottles of water they use or how much they've spent on bottled water over the decades.

Solution five to ten years away

Dr. Rafael Garduno regularly oversees tests of the hospital's water. He’s a legionnaire’s expert and the Canadian research chair on food and water safety.

“Once it's established and you find it in the pipelines of water distribution systems, it’s really difficult to eradicate,” he said.

He agrees bottled water is the best way to protect patients.

The last case of legionnaire's disease at the hospital was recorded in 2009.

The Nova Scotia government is expected to eventually approve plans to relocate Centennial patients and services to the Infirmary and the Dartmouth General Hospital. That will take place in five to ten years.