Residents of Maple Ridge’s Esme Manor are worried because lead has been detected in their tap water, and they are frustrated nobody appears to be doing anything.
In summer 2017, tenants of Esme Manor, built in 1971, were given eviction notices because the building was going to have extensive renovations.
The Surrey-based Alliance Against Displacement styled the notices “renovictions” at a staged event on the front lawn of the building, located on 119th Street.
Landlords are generally restricted to increasing rents in small percentages, such as four per cent in 2018, and 2.5 per cent in 2019. However, with new tenants, they can set an entirely new rate.
The rents for the 22 units at Esme Manor were in the $750 range for a one-bedroom unit. Rents almost doubled after the renovations, which included new windows, sliding doors, cabinets, flooring, light fixtures and more.
Rose Yalowica moved into Esme at the end of January. She pays $1,700 per month for a two-bedroom apartment.
She discovered a problem with the water while taking a bath.
“I filled my tub and it was blue, and I thought, ‘what is going on here,’” she said.
Thinking there might be copper in the water, she asked the landlords to have the water tested, but they could not get any results despite repeated requests.
So she contacted a Vancouver media outlet, which had the water tested on Aug. 31.
It came back from Caro Analytical Services showing high levels of lead.
“I felt sick to know that I even bathe in this water,” she said.
So did her neighbour, Richelle Benoit, who had lead poisoning from a former residence in Pitt Meadows. It caused her to be lethargic, suffer loss of memory, hair loss, and Benoit feels she can’t concentrate as well as she used to.
Drinking bottled water helped her regain health, but Benoit said when she moved into Esme she went back to tap water, with a filtration system. She feels doing so has reversed health gains she had made.
“They took a very sick building, and put a coat of paint on it, and didn’t address many issues,” she said.
According to Healthlink B.C., lead can damage almost every organ in the body. In children, it can cause lasting problems with growth and development.
When it is found in drinking water in B.C., the source of lead is typically from solder used in plumbing.
In 1989, the B.C. Plumbing Code was revised to restrict the use of lead in plumbing components. Buildings constructed before 1989 may be at a higher risk of having lead in water due to corrosion of the plumbing.
According to the World Health Organization, there is no known level of lead exposure that can be considered safe.
In Canada, the guidelines for drinking water are 10 parts per billion, or 0.01 mg/l.
It was set to protect pregnant women and children, who are considered most vulnerable, in 1992.
A 2017 Health Canada document recommends that be halved to 0.005 mg/l.
The water coming out of Yalowica’s tap was found to have three times the current recommended limit.
Lead does not turn water blue.
Tenants have not been able to determine what is causing the water to be blue, but say there is an unusual taste to the water, and it needs further testing.
Benoit reported the findings to Fraser Health and the City of Maple Ridge.
She has been advised by the city to run her tap water for five minutes prior to consumption.
Benoit said that’s impractical.
“Nobody knows to run their water for five minutes. In fact, the message to people has always been to conserve water.”
City engineer David Pollock explained that the city does weekly water testing throughout the distribution system, but does not test on private property – and is not required to.
There are too many variables that may affect water quality for which the city has no control, he said.
He said all samples taken across the city in 2017 showed lead levels below the maximum accepted guideline.
Pollock explained the city does more testing than it is required to, for regulated and unregulated parameters.
“Regulatory parameters are bacteriological in nature – E-Coli and total coliform. A number of unregulated water quality parameters are measured including free chlorine, pH, temperature, disinfection byproducts, turbidity and metals [including lead],” said Pollock.
Ontario requires municipalities to test drinking water inside residences, but testing ends at the property line in B.C.
Dr. Ingrid Tyler, medical health officer for Fraser Health, said apartment building owners are responsible for ensuring the water provided in their units is safe to drink, and that includes creating strategies to manage elevated lead levels.
“As a health authority, our role is to provide guidance and education about water quality and testing. We recommend individuals connect with accredited labs to inform the testing process they should follow and provide the supplies to do it,” she said. “We do not test the water.
“We also provide guidance about mitigation strategies if elevated lead levels are found. Mitigation strategies can include flushing, disconnecting the tap or fountain, adding a filtration system, or replacing older pipes and fixtures. Apartment building owners develop plans that best suit their particular circumstances.
Benoit is asking that the landlords provide tenants with bottled water for drinking, cooking and to give to pets until they have brought the water in line with recommended standards.
Former Maple Ridge mayor and councillor Al Hogarth is the property manager for the landlords – which form a numbered company.
He is in his last weeks managing the site, but said the owners plan to re-test the water at various sources in the building and discuss their options with experts to “see what has to be done.”
He said there is no set timeline.
“It is a health situation, and the owners themselves spoke to Fraser Health originally,” he said. “It has been recognized and is being worked on.”
Hogarth, with experience both in municipal administration and property management, said this is the first time he has seen elevated lead levels in water in Maple Ridge.
“It was a surprise to me,” he said.
“If their samples were taken in the proper manner, then it is beyond the allowable limit.”