Bathurst residents concerned by cloudy, brown drinking water

The water flowing from Joel Picard's faucet looked clear at first. 

But after pouring a glass — he could tell something was wrong. 

"I could just smell the dirt, so I took a drink and it tasted like dirt," he said.

The Bathurst resident noticed what appeared to be sediment in his drinking water, so he reported it to the city in June. They told him it was safe, so his family continued using it until the taste became too strong to swallow.

The northern New Brunswick community has been grappling with municipal water problems over the past month. In early October, it issued a cloudy water advisory, after a flood of complaints to city hall and on social media.

Residents claimed the water from their taps turned dark brown, sandy and discoloured, with an earthy taste and smell. It became so cloudy, the city's advisory warned residents to check the colour before doing any laundry.

The city did not issue a boil water advisory, saying it wasn't necessary.

Picard's water only experienced slight discolouration, but the taste didn't leave him with enough confidence it was safe to drink. After seeing the problem was widespread in the community, he switched to buying bottled water.

"I didn't feel it was 100% safe to drink, but going on what I was told by the city, they said it was safe to drink so I assumed they had done the tests that were required," he said.

Picard said other Bathurst residents have had clothes stained when doing laundry.

"Someone had to fill up their washer six times and drain it before the water cleared up. That's a lot of water to go through," he said.

The City of Bathurst told CBC no one was available for an interview.

Spokesperson Luc Foulem said the city tests its water at different points, multiple times per week, under provincial health guidelines. 

Residents claim the issues started earlier this year and have been recurring on and off for months.