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Quebec’s order of chemists is warning the population about free water analysis schemes recently advertised on social media.
Homeowners across the province are being offered water analyses by unqualified people and subsequently sold expensive purification systems they don’t need and that are no more effective than popular water filtering pitchers, the Ordre des chimistes said in a statement Monday.
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“These people show up at their customers’ homes and almost suddenly discover that the quality of their water is very poor,” order president Michel Alsayegh said. “These results are deliberately distorted in such a way as to worry citizens about their health so that they adhere to high-pressure sales schemes.”
Other houses in the area are then solicited using the false results from a neighbouring home, the order explained.
Alsayegh said he’s seen the ads himself on Facebook over the past few months. Legitimate laboratories have also warned the order they’d been contacted by homeowners curious about why their new purification systems didn’t appear to be making much of a difference in their water quality.
“We decided to investigate,” Alsayegh said.
The services appear to be offered in many areas, but communities affected by boil-water advisories or in rural areas where there are no aqueduct systems are often targeted.
“They’ll be more present because they’ll … try to benefit from the fear of the population and say: ‘We can sell a system that will solve your problems,’” Alsayegh said.
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In a statement, Montreal police said they’re aware of the scheme in question but that no cases have been reported to the force recently.
“Cases of fraud like the one you mention are unfortunately frequent, numerous and recurring, for a variety of products or services offered or sold door to door,” the SPVM said.
The order said that in addition to being wary of online advertisements, the population should look out for salespeople going door-to-door selling purification systems.
“The first question I’d ask is: which laboratory do you work for?” Alsayegh said.
Laboratories need accreditation from the Environment Ministry’s Centre d’expertise en analyse environnementale du Québec, he explained. Professional chemists working at legitimate laboratories will sample residential water for a fee and provide results in extensive detail, including contaminants and their concentrations — but they won’t try to sell equipment.
“They’ll send you bottles by mail with instructions on how to take water samples, they’ll analyze it and give you a report and interpret the report and answer any questions you have,” Alsayegh said. “Those are services the lab can offer.”
A list of accredited laboratories can be found online at ceaeq.gouv.qc.ca.
Alsayegh said for the most part, water sampling isn’t necessary for people living in municipalities with aqueduct systems because the municipalities test the water themselves and send out alerts when there are issues.
“But if you’re in a rural area, getting it analyzed can be a good practice,” he said. “Get it analyzed if you find out your water could have been contaminated in one way or another, or you notice an odour or a colour.”
The order tried to take the investigation as far as it could, Alsayegh explained, but because the law that governs professional chemists dates back to 1926, it is limited in its ability to pursue fraudsters.
“A modernization of (the Professional Chemists Act) is necessary to ensure adequate control of activities reserved for chemists, all with a view to protecting the public,” he said.
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