Public housing tenants near Liverpool frustrated after months without clean tap water

Some residents of a public housing building near Liverpool, N.S., say they are frustrated after months of murky brown tap water — and they're questioning why they weren't told sooner that it contained high amounts of lead.

The tenants of Riverside Apartments in Milton received a boil-water advisory from the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency in early July.  The apartments are managed by the provincial government.

The advisory instructed tenants, all of whom are seniors living on fixed incomes, to boil their water until further notice, but did not give a reason why.

Three weeks later, they received another notice telling them not to drink the tap water even after boiling it. They were told the agency would provide clean drinking water in the meantime.

A third notice in late August said that coliform bacteria was detected during routine water testing in early July, which prompted the boil-water advisory. It said the well was treated, and follow-up testing showed no coliform.

'Lack of communication'

But it also said the further testing showed elevated levels of lead in the water, which is why tenants were told not to drink the water.

"The communication between the agency and the tenants is really frustrating. It doesn't matter how many times we call about things, they'll just say, 'We're doing another test, we're doing another test.' They don't tell us what the test comes out or anything," Geri Rekunyk told CBC Radio's Information Morning Halifax.

"This is our living environment that we're in, and our health that is being impacted."

Rekunyk, 67, said because of the building's water problems, she had her son help her file a complaint with the Residential Tenancies Program.

During that process, they requested the agency's water testing results from early July.

Those results, which were dated July 6, showed the elevated levels of lead — 11 micrograms per litre, which is more than twice the Health Canada guideline for drinking water — nearly a month before residents were told to stop drinking the water.

"That was really kind of, 'Oh, we've been boiling water for weeks and now we find out it's lead and that's harmful,'" Rekunyk said.

"So the whole thing has been the lack of communication. It's taken weeks. They actually knew July 6 that there was lead in the water and we didn't know till weeks after that."

That third notice reiterated not to use the well water for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth, but it could be used for bathing, handwashing and dishwashing.

Rekunyk said she's been going to her daughter's house to bathe, because she's nervous about coming into contact with lead.

Tenants worried

It's an anxiety she shares with some of her neighbours, including Leo Naugler.

Naugler has cancer, and he's worried about how the lead could affect his health. 

"If you wash with it, it will also go through the pores of your skin in your system," Naugler told Information Morning. "And even washing our clothes — you wash your clothes in the same water, then you haul your clothes on."

According to Health Canada and the provincial Department of Environment, bathing in water that has levels of lead higher than the guideline is safe.

"Lead will not enter the body through the skin or by breathing in vapours while showering or bathing," a statement from the department said.

Still, the tap water remains a murky brown colour, which has tenants worried.

Rekunyk said she and some of her neighbours are also unhappy with the four-litre water jugs they've been receiving.

"There's a lot of people, me being one of them, that has a hard time carrying the four-litre jugs and there's people in walkers and things," Rekunyk said.

She said it would be better if they gave the tenants a selection of water bottles that could be put in the fridge and are easier to lift.

Rekunyk said she feels lucky to have family in town that she can visit to use their water, but not everybody in the building has that luxury.

She also misses the independence of having reliable tap water at home. 

Housing agency apologizes

Pamela Menchenton, the executive director of client services for the Nova Scotia Provincial Housing Agency, said it is working as quickly as it can to resolve the water issues.

She said test results from Oct. 5 show that the lead levels are back down to normal range, but the cloudiness of the water is still high. Residents are still being provided bottled water in the meantime.

She apologized for the "terribly inconvenient" water issues.

"We're working with an engineering firm on a water filtration system, and what I can tell you is that we won't restore the water to the tenants until we're assured that it is safe to do so," she said.

She said it's hard to predict when the water will be safe to drink again, but they're "getting close."

Still, Rekunyk is concerned. She, Naugler and four other neighbours have submitted applications to the Residential Tenancies Board about the poor water quality. 

They each have a separate hearing coming up in November.

Rekunyk said she wants the water issues to be fixed, but she also wants compensation for her rent for the months she's been without safe water from her taps.

She said by speaking out, she's hoping it will create better communication between the agency and its tenants in the future.

"Start to have communication with us by showing us when you do tests, then you give us what the results of those tests are so we can see the progress," she said. "Because at this point, it seems like nothing."