Residents in Lachine condo without hot water for nearly two months and counting

Lachine resident Amanda Savoy said she never knew how important hot water was until she lost access to it nearly two months ago.

Now, she said, “it’s just all consuming.”

On May 1, Savoy said she heard a noise in the hallway of her condo. When she opened the door there was water pouring down from the ceiling. An initial assessment was that two water pipes had collapsed.

The hot water was turned off to prevent another leak. Savoy said they are still waiting for tests to be done on their drinking water to ensure it is safe.

“The most recent communication we got was advising us not to use our dishwasher,” said Savoy.

Savoy and her wife, Alana Spagnolo, keep two kettles going when they need hot water, and rely on bottled water for cooking. They go to relatives’ homes when they need a hot shower but have had to learn to live with cold showers.

“It’s very sad we’re getting used to this, but it’s not something that we want to deal with anymore,” Spagnolo said.

In an email, the building’s property manager, Marc Morin, CEO of Gestion Immobilière Provision, told CTV News that repair work revealed deeper issues with the original installation of the water distribution system. As a result, the condo owner’s association is retaining legal counsel and experts to assess the situation.

They are trying to resolve the situation as quickly as possible and keep owners informed regularly.

As renters, the couple says they don’t have the energy to move, and they otherwise love where they live. They are concerned the upcoming construction holiday will further delay repairs.

“I think a lot of the residents are losing faith that there’s going to be a clear timeline and an actual solution,” she said.