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We were peppered with questions following the tale of an Ottawa woman slapped with a $6,000 lien on her home to fulfill the contract on a water softener system sold by a door-to-door agent.
Patsy Miller was required to pay out the entire 120-month rental on the system, even though she sold the Barrhaven home after 17 months and no longer had any use for the softener. She felt deceived by the sales agent, who left the impression the city’s water is loaded with harmful contaminants. This, of course, is false.
So here follows some useful 411 on the city’s H2O.
Q: If I’m hooked up to the city’s main water system, do I need a water softener?
A: No. Ottawa’s water is considered “very soft” at source, the Ottawa River, because of the waterway’s geology. Water hardness is a measure of the dissolved amounts of calcium and magnesium. For comparison, Ottawa’s main supply has about 30 mg/L of hardness (very soft), compared to a communal well like Carp’s — also city-run — with 225 mg/L, termed “moderately” hard.
“The one that blows me out of the water is the softener thing,” said City of Ottawa water quality engineer Ian Douglas, who has often taken calls from residents dealing with salespeople. “For us on the water side, we just shake our heads. How do they have the nerve to suggest people buy a softener?”
Q: Does the city’s water need to be filtered?
A: Not really, though the city calls this a “personal decision.” Some residents use carbon systems (like Brita) because they can detect an earthy smell or chemical taste, which are not health risks. The city’s water exceeds virtually every federal and provincial standard for safety and is rigorously tested: more than 100,000 tests are done annually, taking samples from more than 50 locations. It is, of course, chlorinated and has fluoride added, but Douglas said much of the chemical content has been removed by the time it reaches your tap.
“I know this water better than anyone in the city. You don’t need any additional filter,” said Douglas. Virtually no water on earth is 100 per cent pure. Douglas said they sometimes produced pure water in laboratories to use in testing procedures. “It tastes terrible.”
Q: Does the city or province send staff to your door to sell you an enhanced system?
A. No. The city works by appointment and, in the event it shows up unannounced, staff will be driving city vehicles and wearing city-issued ID. If in doubt, don’t let any sales agent into your home, especially to examine equipment.
Q: What is the city doing to protect its water customers from unscrupulous companies?
A: It regularly issues bulletins and advisories — as do councillors — and has a section on its website with bold type saying:
“Warning — Important Message. The City of Ottawa warns residents to be aware of door-to-door salespeople making false claims about the quality of city drinking water. These individuals have been known to approach residents to sell water filtration or treatment systems and provide incorrect information pertaining to water quality.”
Q: The salesperson turned my tap water brown with a tester. Doesn’t that indicate contamination?
A: No. Douglas said he’s heard of some sales agents who, in their pitch to homeowners, use special probes to turn a glass of city tap water brown or orange or purple. It does not indicate contaminants, he said. The colour comes from the probe itself, which can contain a “reagent.”
Q: How do these companies work?
A: Often they will blitz a neighbourhood, promising the systems will “save” the homeowner money or are part of a mandatory update to equipment. They sometimes work in pairs, wear vests, carry ID and have official-sounding words like “Standards” in their company name. The practice has been going on for about 20 years, Douglas estimated, and he recalled that inquiries often come in bunches. Installation is usually quick, like the next day, before the homeowner has a chance to research or rethink things.
Q: There is a place on the rental agreement for my Enbridge account. Why?
According to Enbridge, the gas supplier was required by regulators to open up third-party billing for “energy-related services” as part of the 2002 sale to Direct Energy of a portion of their business. (Enbridge lists the dozens of such companies on its website.)
“These companies are not owned by or affiliated with Enbridge and we do not recommend, endorse or guarantee the products or services offered by such companies,” wrote a spokesman on Tuesday. “If a customer has an issue with their bill or a complaint about a company that is participating in Enbridge’s Billing Service, they should contact us at 1-877-362-7434 or customercare@enbridge.com.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
Patsy Miller was required to pay out the entire 120-month rental on the system, even though she sold the Barrhaven home after 17 months and no longer had any use for the softener. She felt deceived by the sales agent, who left the impression the city’s water is loaded with harmful contaminants. This, of course, is false.
So here follows some useful 411 on the city’s H2O.
Q: If I’m hooked up to the city’s main water system, do I need a water softener?
A: No. Ottawa’s water is considered “very soft” at source, the Ottawa River, because of the waterway’s geology. Water hardness is a measure of the dissolved amounts of calcium and magnesium. For comparison, Ottawa’s main supply has about 30 mg/L of hardness (very soft), compared to a communal well like Carp’s — also city-run — with 225 mg/L, termed “moderately” hard.
“The one that blows me out of the water is the softener thing,” said City of Ottawa water quality engineer Ian Douglas, who has often taken calls from residents dealing with salespeople. “For us on the water side, we just shake our heads. How do they have the nerve to suggest people buy a softener?”
Q: Does the city’s water need to be filtered?
A: Not really, though the city calls this a “personal decision.” Some residents use carbon systems (like Brita) because they can detect an earthy smell or chemical taste, which are not health risks. The city’s water exceeds virtually every federal and provincial standard for safety and is rigorously tested: more than 100,000 tests are done annually, taking samples from more than 50 locations. It is, of course, chlorinated and has fluoride added, but Douglas said much of the chemical content has been removed by the time it reaches your tap.
“I know this water better than anyone in the city. You don’t need any additional filter,” said Douglas. Virtually no water on earth is 100 per cent pure. Douglas said they sometimes produced pure water in laboratories to use in testing procedures. “It tastes terrible.”
Q: Does the city or province send staff to your door to sell you an enhanced system?
A. No. The city works by appointment and, in the event it shows up unannounced, staff will be driving city vehicles and wearing city-issued ID. If in doubt, don’t let any sales agent into your home, especially to examine equipment.
Q: What is the city doing to protect its water customers from unscrupulous companies?
A: It regularly issues bulletins and advisories — as do councillors — and has a section on its website with bold type saying:
“Warning — Important Message. The City of Ottawa warns residents to be aware of door-to-door salespeople making false claims about the quality of city drinking water. These individuals have been known to approach residents to sell water filtration or treatment systems and provide incorrect information pertaining to water quality.”
Q: The salesperson turned my tap water brown with a tester. Doesn’t that indicate contamination?
A: No. Douglas said he’s heard of some sales agents who, in their pitch to homeowners, use special probes to turn a glass of city tap water brown or orange or purple. It does not indicate contaminants, he said. The colour comes from the probe itself, which can contain a “reagent.”
Q: How do these companies work?
A: Often they will blitz a neighbourhood, promising the systems will “save” the homeowner money or are part of a mandatory update to equipment. They sometimes work in pairs, wear vests, carry ID and have official-sounding words like “Standards” in their company name. The practice has been going on for about 20 years, Douglas estimated, and he recalled that inquiries often come in bunches. Installation is usually quick, like the next day, before the homeowner has a chance to research or rethink things.
Q: There is a place on the rental agreement for my Enbridge account. Why?
According to Enbridge, the gas supplier was required by regulators to open up third-party billing for “energy-related services” as part of the 2002 sale to Direct Energy of a portion of their business. (Enbridge lists the dozens of such companies on its website.)
“These companies are not owned by or affiliated with Enbridge and we do not recommend, endorse or guarantee the products or services offered by such companies,” wrote a spokesman on Tuesday. “If a customer has an issue with their bill or a complaint about a company that is participating in Enbridge’s Billing Service, they should contact us at 1-877-362-7434 or customercare@enbridge.com.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
