Saint John's frequent boil orders mean drastic measures for some

45,000people in Saint John are still living through a boil water order caused by a power outage that triggered the failure of a chlorinator early Monday morning.

• Boil water order issued for 45,000 users in Saint John

Problems with the city's antiquated water system have become so common, that people have taken steps to protect themselves against the expense and hassle.

Boil orders used to cost restaurant owner Holly Singh too much money.

"We had to go out and buy big bottles of water and buy ice and get cans of pop, because basically, we couldn't use our pop system," she said.

So three years ago, she invested $3,000 in an ultra-violet treatment system for water, which she said has more than paid for itself.

Hospital's big problems

On a much bigger scale, the Saint John Regional Hospital is also protected with a giant reservoir in its basement, capable of holding 500,000 gallons.

But even that much will be gone by Wednesday morning.

"We will be moving over to city water and therefore will have the boil order in effect for the regional hospital," said executive director Brenda Kinney.

"And the biggest impact at that time will be with our endoscopy procedures, with our scopes, and that's because the cleaning of the scopes takes a significant volume of water."

Kinney said about five procedures will be cancelled Wednesday, and more in the following day.

So far, the hospital reports no signs of anyone getting sick from drinking untreated water.

But public health is on the watch for symptoms such as cramps, nausea, headaches, and diarrhea.

The city's new water system won't be ready until 2018.