Frustration mounts as Aylmer boil-water advisory enters 6th day

Roughly 10,000 Aylmer residents are facing their sixth straight day under a boil-water advisory, with severalexpressing frustration over the communication from public officials.

ACity of Gatineau official told CBC on the weekend thatthe advisory that was issued Aug. 1was prompted by E.coli contamination found during routine weekly water quality tests.

It'sthe same bacteria that triggered aprevious advisory on July 18. The cause, quantity, andconcentration of the bacteria are currentlynot available.

The advisory covers an area that'sroughly east of chemin Eardley,west of the Gatineau Golf and Country Club,south of boulevard des Allumettires and north of chemin d'Aylmer.

However, the information on the city's website does not state that E.coli is to blame and that's frustrating forresidents like Charlotte Cambariza, afederal public servant who'slived near boulevard Wilfrid-Lavigne for abouteight years.

Cambarizasaid she's concerned about the health risks the water could poseto her four-year-old daughter.

"It'shard for her to take a bath and not be drinking the bath water," Cambariza said.

She also said the boil-water advisory has made it difficult to cook for the household.

"We've been having to wash all of our fruits and vegetables with bottled water, which is not very environmentally friendly."

The city's communication has been "poor," Cambariza said, adding that she wants to be told both the reasons for the boil-water advisories and what specificsteps are being taken to mitigate therecurring problem.

Rock Langlois, a computer systems analyst who has lived near rue Broadfor the past four years, said water advisories were rare in the sector until this year.

Langloissaid he feels the city isn't taking the waterissue seriously enough.

"Public officials are being super nonchalant about the situation when [they've] communicated to their constituents," Langlois said. "They don't seem to figure out that it's a big problem."

To ensure his household had enough safe water, Langlois spent an entire day boiling and storing it, a process he found "time-consuming and frustrating."

He said he felt public officials were being unresponsive and unsympathetic to the challenges Aylmer residents have been facing.

"I just think that we're pretty much left to our own devices," he said.

Next test results Tuesday afternoon

Radio-Canada reached out to Lucerne Coun. Gilles Changnon, whose districthas been most affected by the advisory, but he wasn't available foran interview.

The next water quality test resultswill not be available until Tuesday afternoon, according to officials.

"Over time, we start coping with these things by taking on responsibilities we shouldn't have to take on," Langlois said.

"So the future is a little bit dim, but I'm just hoping for the best."