For Canadian Readers
"39 Long-Term Water Advisories Right Now. One Goes Back to 1995."
What my cousin, 18 years in Canadian Forces logistics, told me about why your tap water isn't as safe as you think, and what he keeps in his own truck.
Robert Fraser · Ontario
Updated November 2026 · 7 min read
Canada has more fresh water around it than any of us could ever use. I've said that at dinner parties. I've said it like it settled something.
Then I looked at the record.
Neskantaga First Nation's boil water advisory goes back to February 1995. Children have grown up and had children of their own under it.
You may think that's a problem for somewhere far away. So did I. Look at the rest.
- Quebec, January 1998. Hydro-Québec says nearly 1.4 million homes were without electricity at the height of the ice storm. Its timeline shows Montréal's water filtration plants shutting down because of the power failure. The last customer got power back on February 6.
- Walkerton, Ontario, May 2000. E. coli got into the town's water. A Natural Resources Canada assessment puts the toll at 7 dead and 2,300 ill.
- Iqaluit, Nunavut, 2021. Fuel got into the water. The Do Not Consume Order ran from October 12 to December 10. The mayor said a litre of bottled water was selling for nearly CA$9.
This isn't a what-if. It's Canadian history. And our pipes and plants aren't getting any younger.
So last winter I called the one person I knew who'd give it to me straight.
See What He Keeps in His Truck★★★★★ 4.8 stars, 2,318 reviews
He didn't take a breath
Luc is my cousin. He put in 18 years with Canadian Forces logistics. His working life was what happens when systems fail and the trucks still have to get through.
Was I overreacting? I put it to him just like that. He didn't take a breath.
Canadians think we're safe because there's water everywhere. That's the whole problem. We've stopped thinking about it. And the night the grid fails in January, this country stops being polite.Luc, 18 years in Canadian Forces logistics, retired
Then he walked me through it, and I wrote it down.
Picture a January night with your daughter and her two kids staying over. The power goes out, and the furnace stops. If you're on a well, the pump stopped the same second. By morning the pipes may be frozen and the road may be closed.
In summer you could set out a bucket for the rain. In January you can't. And you can go a long time without food. Without water, it's days, not weeks.
On town water, a storm or a broken main can bring a boil notice with the lights still on. It isn't only the far north, either. In the 2021 Texas freeze, more than 14 million people were affected by boil water notices at one point. Texas. If a cold snap could do that there, what would a long one do on your street?
Why your backup plan won't work
I gave Luc my plan. He took it apart in about four minutes.
- "I'll get water at the store." The water aisle goes first, and the road may be closed. You'll be up against your whole neighbourhood.
- "I'll boil it." The CDC calls boiling the best way to kill germs, so do it if you can. It takes fuel and a working stove, and an ice storm may leave you short of both.
- "I'll melt snow." It takes a lot of snow and a lot of heat to get a little water. Heat is what you're short of.
- "Someone will come." Crews will get to your road. It may not be this week.
- "I'll store it." The Government of Canada says to be ready for at least 72 hours, with about 4 litres per person per day. The US CDC goes further: 2 weeks if possible. For a family of four, that's about 212 litres (56 gallons), about 19 cases. It only goes down, and bottles in the garage can freeze.
That last one stung. I had 2 cases in the garage, and I'd felt good about them.
"You've got a countdown," Luc said. "Everybody's got a countdown. You want something that doesn't count down."
Two families. Same ice storm.
He told me to picture two houses on the same road. The Gagnons and the Phams. Same storm, same frozen pipes, same closed road.
| The Pham house | The Gagnon house | |
|---|---|---|
| Road closed, store empty | A straw in the drawer for when the bottles run out. | Nothing left to reach for. |
| When the stored water is gone | Filters fresh water or melted clean snow, for bacteria and protozoa. | Melts snow in a pot over whatever heat is left. |
| What it needs | No power. Keep a used one in your coat. | Fuel, a stove and time. |
| By day three | The kids drink. The grown-ups can think. | Everyone's watching the same pot. |
Same storm. A very different week. The difference between those two houses is one small thing in a drawer.
So I asked the only question left. "What do you keep, Luc? Not what you'd tell me to buy. What's in your own truck?"
What's in my cousin's truck
Water filters. Four of them. One at the house, one in the truck, two up at the cabin. Bought with my own money. When you're a long way from help at thirty below, you want a way to drink what's around you. That's all it is.Luc, 18 years in Canadian Forces logistics, retired
He tossed one on the table. It was a filter straw, about the size of a fat marker. I'd honestly expected something bigger.
No power. No batteries. No training. Put it in the water and drink through it.
I went home and found the same kind. The one I bought is the MINIMLS Emergency Water Filter Straw, because I could read exactly what it does and doesn't do before I paid for it. The company says it has 100,000+ customers.
It weighs 2 oz. It has four stages. The first three stop sand and silt. The last is a 0.01 micron hollow-fiber membrane, thousands of tiny tubes. Water passes through the walls. Bacteria and protozoa are too big to follow it. There's no battery, and nothing to run out.
- Removes 99.99% of bacteria and protozoa from fresh water, including E. coli, Salmonella, Cholera, Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Legionella
- Also blocks microplastics, and it's BPA-free
- Rated for about 6,800 litres (1,800 gallons), more than 550 cases of bottled water, tested to the rated figures
Remember what got into Walkerton's water? E. coli. It's on that list. And at about 4 litres a day, 3,800 litres would last one person more than two and a half years.
The maker says it tested the straw in freezing, humid and arid conditions, and drop-tested it from 1 metre. That doesn't change the rule above. Once it's wet, let it dry and keep it from freezing.
In a cold place, that's one more reason to plan one per person, plus one for the go-bag. The one you're using stays warm with you. The one in the car stays unused and dry.
I tried mine in the kitchen with a bowl of melted clean snow. The first few draws took some effort. Then I threaded it onto a water bottle and squeezed a glass, with no pulling. It tasted like water.
The math isn't close
For a family of four, that's five straws. Bought singly, five cost $149.95. The Family Pack is 5 straws, 1 free included, for $79.99. That's $69.96 less, about $16 a straw.
Look at what you paid for your last case of water. Multiply it by 550. That's one straw's rating. And during a real emergency, you won't find a case at any price, because the truck isn't running and the shelf is bare.
Emergency Preparedness Sale ends in
- Filters 99.99% of bacteria and protozoa
- Rated for 1,800 gallons
- No batteries, no pump, no expiration when stored dry
Up to 67% off. Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you. Not sold on Amazon.
What it can't do
It does not remove viruses, chemicals, heavy metals or salt. When viruses are a concern, boil the water or add tablets. Don't drink water you suspect is chemically contaminated. In Iqaluit's 2021 fuel contamination, no straw would have helped. Stored water would. So keep both.
What it does take out is bacteria and protozoa, from the fresh water you can reach, with no stove and no power. I respect a company that prints that on its own page.
What you're probably asking
"Will I manage it?" Put one end in the water and sip. Or thread it onto a regular bottle and squeeze into a glass or a pot.
"Does it really work?" The maker states it's third-party lab tested for bacteria and protozoa removal. It's tested to the rated figures, and buyers give it 4.8 stars across 2,318 reviews. Try it at home inside your 30 days.
"Why now?" When the forecast turns, everybody looks for the same things at once. A box ordered that day won't beat the storm. The only good time to buy this is before.
Buying for your grown kids too? 10 straws, 2 of them free, are $129.99, about $13 a straw. A January night doesn't wait for everyone to be under one roof.
Same January night
I asked Luc one more thing before I hung up. Had he ever seen anyone sorry they'd bought something like this? He laughed. "I've only ever seen people sorry they didn't."
The pump is off and the road is closed. When the stored water is gone, you fill a bottle with melted clean snow, thread on the straw and squeeze a glass for your daughter's youngest. She drinks it, and she goes back to her colouring by the lantern.
You don't need a bunker. You need the bare minimum, before the first real cold of the year gets here. The Emergency Preparedness Sale, up to 67% off, is on now. Get the Family Pack, and be the Phams.
Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you. Unused or used.
Was afraid it'd be an odd gift. My brother-in-law asked where to get more.
Gail M.Ordered Monday, here the next Monday. Works as described.
Lou C.Tested it on pond water behind the house. Clear, no taste to speak of. You do have to pull harder than you think at first.
Tom W.
Try it for 30 days. If you're not happy, email us and we'll refund you.
Get the Family Pack: 5 Straws for $79.9930-day money back.
P.S. If you're on a well, go and look at what runs your pump. Then ask what you'd drink on day three with it off.
Sources, checked October 31, 2026: Indigenous Services Canada, active long-term drinking water advisories, October 21, 2026. Hydro-Québec, Ice Storm 1998. Natural Resources Canada, Canada in a Changing Climate, Ontario chapter, 2007. City of Iqaluit, Do Not Consume Order. Government of Canada, Get Prepared, emergency kits. CDC, emergency water supply and water treatment guidance. Fox 5 on Texas 2021. The Guardian, Oct 14, 2021, on Iqaluit bottled water prices.