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

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

• Saint-Henriboil water advisory cancelled

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

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

A boil water advisoryin 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 breakare opting to stay withfriends or relatives until the repairs to the street are complete.

Adam Bernettlives just metres from the break onSt-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 daysbecause of the constructionand the issues with the water."

Bottled water

Potentially unsafe drinking water wasa hassle for parents of young children likeRichard Bartlett, the father of an 11-month-old baby. Helives a block from where the water main break occurred.

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

For St-Henri residentElizabeth Broes,who has a chronicillness and a weakened immune system, the boil water advisory is even more worrisome.

"I brushed my teeth with [unboiledwater], I had put it in my Britapitcher. So since I found out [about the advisory], I threw all the water out, and I threw out my icecubes," 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 waythe Southwest boroughcommunicateditsboil water advisory.

Bernett, Bartlettand Broesall said they were not informed of the advisory by the boroughover 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,saidthe borough informedresidents of the boil water advisory byplacing written notices on doorsand by sending out text message alerts through the City's Alertes Citoyennesemergency noticeservice.

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

He said the boroughwill improve its communications strategy in the future.