There's still no indication when the boil-water advisory for nearly a million residents of Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver and Burnaby might be lifted.

The advisory, in its seventh day Wednesday, was issued by the Greater Vancouver Regional District following last week's huge storm that muddied the waters of the Capilano and Seymour reservoirs on the North Shore.

It's still not safe to brush your teeth with tap water, says the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
(CBC)

Since then, there has been some improvement in turbidity levels, say officials. But Clay Adams of Vancouver Coastal Health told CBC News on Wednesday that the levels in the Seymour watershed are still too high for the water to be considered safe.

"What we'll be looking for is a consistent downward trend, and while we are seeing that now at Capilano, and certainly Coquitlam is consistently low, we're still not totally confident that the advisory can be lifted right now."

Positive test for E. coli questioned

Meanwhile, E. coli has turned up in a water sample taken at the University of British Columbia on Tuesday, but health officials say it was likely caused by human error in the sampling process.

Vancouver medical health officer Dr. John Blatherwick says there was a lot of chlorine in the water and there's no way E. coli bacteria should have survived.

"It's not actual contamination, but it was a contamination from the sampling technique. The sampling pipe is down below a hill and there was a lot of buildup of debris, and water below."

Blatherwick said the sample wasn't taken from a pipe feeding water to residences or student buildings at UBC.

Followup testing is being done, with the results expected on Thursday.

Free bottled water in Downtown Eastside

While many people in Greater Vancouver consider the boil-water advisory to be a hassle, some residents of the Downtown Eastside are welcoming it.

Since the advisory was issued, groups such as the Salvation Army and the Carnegie Centre have been passing out free bottled water to people in the area.

Resident Tom Colby said he had never had such easy access to water.

"Prior to this, water wasn't that accessible. I'm just trying to think where you can get water. Yeah, we got one tap. It's down by Pigeon Park down there."

Melanie Konkin, another resident of the troubled neighbourhood, agreed it's rare for her and her neighbours to have so much fresh water.

"It's looking pretty good all around. People are drinking more water and it's healthier. You know, when it's handed to you, you drink it," she said.

"Because especially the crystal meths, [addicted] people don't get as much water as they should."
 
Konkin noted there's another benefit to having free bottled water. She said she can pick up empty water bottles on the street and turn them in for spare change.

Water still a problem on Island

Two communities on Vancouver Island are still under a boil-water advisory, and officials say that could end soon.

Residents of Parksville and Port Alberni face restrictions, but officials hope to lifts the advisories soon. 

Nanaimo and Chemainus were under water restrictions imposed last week but are now back to normal.