Quebec’s Order of Chemists is urging people to be vigilant about water quality testing scams circulating on social media.
The Order issued the warning in a news release Monday, saying fraudsters are presenting as qualified professionals and posting ads online for free home water quality testing.
“These people show up at their customers’ homes and discover almost every time that the quality of their water is very poor,” said Order president Michel Alsayegh.
“These results are deliberately misrepresented in order to make people worry about their health so that they buy into the high-pressure sales ploy.”
Victims are offered the chance to buy a water purification system that can cost thousands of dollars, “but in reality is no more effective than a popular water filter jug,” Alsayegh said.
Those distorted results are then used to target neighbours in the same area.
The Order is calling on the public to be cautious when faced with advertisements for free water quality testing as well as door-to-door salespeople selling water purification systems.
Avoid getting scammed
The warning comes as a boil-water advisory was issued for 10,000 residents of Aylmer in Gatineau, Que., last week and remains in effect today.
In an email, the City of Gatineau said the bacteria found in the water was E. coli.
In this context, people could be tempted to use water-testing services offered by individuals. If so, the Order says there are ways to avoid being taken for a ride.
Quebec’s Environment Ministry requires tap water samples to be a collected in a specific way and then sent to an accredited laboratory for testing.
A member of Quebec’s Order of Chemists then analyzes the results and produces a signed report with recommendations if any problems are detected.
In other words, scientists would offer solutions rather than sell an expensive product.
To avoid getting scammed, Alsayegh suggests validating a door knocker’s permit number on the Order’s website.