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WM ”(Ll)” CHRONICLE - Wednesday. April IS. 1009 - 3 lone Improve-eat "a 5 I 9434-5852 PERI!!!“ Govern-u! 6r.” I Morn Widows ' Doors - Islam“. Strum 0 Awnings W11 , . th 2 at 8 1n e water. More people complaining about adverse reactions to municipal water BYBOBVRMNMZ ’- . _ ’ ' ti: ; . .' ‘ _ _. . water at times. because it makes their skin Chmflidt’ 5‘0}? . ‘ . ' . ' itchy. but I know you're not talking about . g: ‘ - - . . g ‘ that. en Robert Falla shared his story ’ 1' ) ‘ ' ‘ . - . -' ' ‘ "We don't receive any amount of calls Wbout how his skin reacted when it “a " - ~ 1 ‘ ’ ' “ I. . with regard to chemical tolerance." came into contact with the local . .. . " ‘ ‘ V But if the city wants a list of people with water supply, he wondered if he was 51' . e, . 7,, complaints about their reactions to the all alone. ’ . water, Falla said he's been collecting one. He wasn’t. _‘ . g. i ‘ ‘ {Q} And that list keeps growing. ‘ As the calls came flooding into his Water~ a; ‘ ‘ A .2 ’ ‘ < One of those people is Paul Forster, a resi- loo home from people who read his story in a a J \ dent of the Northlake Woods area of Water. the Feb. 25 edition of the Chronicle. they \ » v a ‘ loo. Forster and his wife Janice moved to the were all complaining about the same thingâ€" ‘- v I ‘ ‘ y it , city from the Ottawa area about three years mysterious skin problems after they had I f I \ 33 ‘ ago. and both have skin conditions since the come into contact with the local water. I I} , ‘ \ \ ‘ ' move. Theywere describing the same symptoms ‘ A, They think the symptoms might be that Falla had experienced for the last nine ' ‘ . ._ - caused byWaterloo's water. months as his skin crawled and a red. itchy ‘ .‘ “its: a "We been getting these reds spots on my rash broke on his hands and other pans of . r A! body. mostly on my legs and arms and a little his body. Those symptoms grew worse after .' ‘ on my back and stomach.” said Forster. coming into contact with the municipal ‘ . Forster has tried everything to alleviate water supply. . ‘ the symptoms. He even applies topical After exhausting all the medical reasons I creams after a doctor at a local walk‘in clinic behind what might have caused the condi- diagnosed psoriasis tion. Falla, who lives right next door to a He also tried disinfecting his hot tub and municipal water tower, started to wonder if replacing his water softener. there was something in the water. But the symptoms still persist and they get So far he‘s been unsatisfied with the even worse when he comes in contact with answers he‘s received from local water offi- the local water. cials. who have done some initial testing. "it doesn't start likeany psoriasis I‘ve seen While the early results indicated that he had before." said Forster. “it's funny how it slightly elevated chloramine levels in his behaves. home. the results still measured within safe, "Whenever I have a shower I have a bum- acceptable provincial standards. ing sensation on it.“ However, he still hasn’t received an While psoriasis might be a plausible answer about the fluoride levels in his home. explanation for his condition because of a That chemical is added to Waterloo's water family background, it‘s no explanation for supply ' ‘ why his wife has had a similar reaction with The question of continuing water lluori- Waterloo resident Robert Fella thought he might be the only one having a skin reaction to no previous history of the condition. dation in Waterloo will be addressed in a the local water. But after his story was told in the Chronicle in February. other citizens contact- 'My wife developed the same thing and plebiscite that will be held during the munic< ed Falla with the same concerns. over the last six months to a year it's been ipal elections in the fall of 2010. F” ”'0“? gettingworse," said Forster. Until then. Falla is wondering if he has to involved with the initial testing, its concentration level throughout the sys- The only time the couple has had any pay for some of that expensive water testing "I relied on the region's water quality spe- tem.saidGaribaldl. relief recently was when they went on himself for his own piece of mind. cialist and asked them about fluoride values ”As a result they could provide us with vacation. "I've had no contact with the city since and l was told that fluoride doesn't decrease rainy good certainty the level offluoride that Forster said he didn’t have to use his [Opi- (the Chronicle story).” said Falla. in value in the system.“ said Garibaldi. 'lt Mr. Falla would be receiving“ he said. cal cream once in the more than two weeks "As far as they're concerned I think they doesn‘t decompose in the system." When asked if the city has received a lot of he was away. wish this was washed away and never rears Falls might have higher levels of chlo- complaints about people with potential reac- The symptoms didn't reoccur until he its Ugly head again." ramine at h's home because the region is try- tions to the chentimls in the water, Garibaldi "Ruffled home and used the municipal Bill Garibaldi. the manager of water serv» ing to ensure the same level of dosing at the said nothing that he would call significant. water again. ices at the City of Waterloo, said although end ofthe distribution system as the begin- "If you ask whether or not we‘ve been "i can't say it's due lo the Water. but it's they haven't officially tested for fluoride lev- ning, which is has been provincially mandat- receiving those calls. we have not to the best funny that we had the hot tub for five Wars els at Falla's north Waterloo home. he has ed since theWalkerton water disaster. of my knowledge." he said. ”Certainly noth- and it wasn't a problem until we moved relied on the expert opinions of water quality Fluoride, however. doesn't degrade the ing out of the ordinary. ~ here.” he said. experts at the Region of Waterloo who were same way as chlorine or chloramine so holds "We do have people complain about hard Continued on pages ‘ *1 ”“ _" . 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