Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
When the pandemic started, the province was testing the population and updating the number of COVID cases daily. But four years on, testing has stalled and the main way to get a snapshot of the COVID picture is through wastewater. Mark Servos is with the department of Biology in Canada and Research Chair in Water Quality Protection at the University of Waterloo.
University of Regina researchers say the amount of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in the city's wastewater remains high, but is down from previous levels. The latest analysis for the week of Oct. 30 through Nov. 5 showed a mixture in COVID levels for the cities studied. Analysis of the City of Moose Jaw's wastewater shows an increase in virus, putting that city's COVID levels at a moderate-high level.
Clean drinking water is a readily accessible resource for most Canadians yet beyond the reach of those in our community living on the streets, leaving them vulnerable to dehydration and ultimately death. On average, a person living in a temperate climate requires 3 liters (13 cups) of fluid intake a day to maintain adequate hydration for proper bodily function. Access to life-saving water remains a challenge for relief agencies and outreach programs that provide aid to those living in shelters and on our city streets. The problem is growing – the aftershock of COVID, the lack of affordable housing, the opioid crisis, poor hygiene, and a steady increase in refugees mean that the mortality rate among this high-risk group could surpass critical numbers.
John Giesy helps run a level two biosafety lab at the University of Saskatchewan. “Level four would be where you’re working with things like anthrax, and everyone is in hazmat suits,” the toxicologist and environmental chemist explains. At the Saskatoon biolab, people sit before fume hoods, “where we vent things and filter things, so we’re not releasing anything to the environment, and our people aren’t exposed.” One of the things they’re filtering is wastewater, searching for signals of SARS-CoV-2 from human stool.
As average levels of coronavirus found in Ottawa’s wastewater hit record highs and case numbers climb across the country, a wastewater surveillance project in Nova Scotia may soon see its funding renewed. Launched last January, the goal of the research project was to track the presence of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia wastewater to help researchers more quickly identify the SARS-CoV-2 virus before it can spread. That project is winding down.
Batchewana First Nation members have received some welcome news. It was announced this past week that a ground-breaking ceremony was staged for a water treatment plant expected to be fully functional on the First Nation in northern Ontario by the end of 2021. “They’re happy,” Chief Dean Sayers said of the Batchewana First Nation members who will have access to clean drinking water in their homes.
