Brantford Residents Cautioned Regarding Suspect Door-to-Door Water Treatment Sales

The City of Brantford is cautioning residents about questionable tactics involving door-to-door sales of water purifying systems. The City reassures residents that the water supplied by the City meets or exceeds strict provincial standards and is safe to drink.

Residents may be approached by door-to-door water treatment system salespeople using a ‘precipitator’ or ‘jam jar purity test’ to supposedly prove that all water, except the water produced by their purification equipment, is impure and unsafe for human consumption.

The water ‘test’ conducted in a resident’s home by a salesperson frequently results in a brown substance forming in the City’s water. Residents must be assured that this is a normal effect when passing an electric current through a sample of water containing minerals. A typical reverse osmosis system (the system they are trying to sell) will produce water with lower levels of these minerals and will therefore not show a precipitate during this demonstration - thus no brown substance will appear. The City emphasizes that minerals are essential to maintaining a normal health standard.

Residents who feel they have been treated unfairly or are victims of fraud are encouraged to contact the Ministry of Consumer Services by visiting: www.sse.gov.on.ca/.

Residents concerned about the safety of their water are asked to contact 519-756-1360. The City of Brantford publishes annual drinking water quality reports and makes these frequent updates available on this website.

• Water Quality, Programs and Reports
• In-Home Water Treatment Equipment and Testing of Tap Water - What You Need to Know About Door to Door Water Testing

For more information, please call the City's Customer Contact Centre at 519-759-4150.