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.
Halifax Water says it has diverted untreated and unscreened sewage from entering the Northwest Arm, but it's still advising people to not swim or participate in activities that require contact with the water. In an update after 6 p.m., the water utility said the water is now being treated but that repair work is still underway.
Halifax Water says its water supply remains safe as a wildfire burns just a few kilometres away from one of its large watersheds. The utility operates a pumping station and water treatment facility at Pockwock Lake, which supplies water to the Lower Sackville, Bedford and Halifax areas. That facility sits just northwest of where the fire is burning, and is located inside an emergency zone. "We are checking water samples, including additional water samples, to make sure the quality of the water stays consistently safe," Jeff Myrick, the utility's communications manager, told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Nova Scotia on Wednesday.
An audit of Halifax Water by the Halifax Regional Municipality's auditor general has found deficiencies in the utility's cybersecurity, including employees clicking links in emails. As part of the audit, an email purporting to be from a legitimate source with a link, known as a phishing email, was sent to 55 employees of the utility to test their awareness of security protocols. According to the report, 45 employees clicked a link in the email and provided their credentials. Three others clicked the link but did not submit their credentials. Auditor General Evangeline Colman-Sadd's audit looked at supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems and made 21 recommendations for improving security.
Halifax Water crews are working to repair a water main on Kaye and Sackville streets in Halifax. Water service will temporarily close the road between Belleshire drive but sidewalks will remain open. The utility says motorists should expect delays and use alternate routes. Halifax Water says customers in the area may experience discoloured water during, and or, after the repair. It is recommended that those customers run the cold water until the water runs clear.
Dr. Amina Stoddart, a professor in Dalhousie’s Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, is applying her expertise in wastewater treatment to help advance the state of the art in water utilities. In 2020, Dr. Stoddart was awarded a highly competitive, internationally peer-reviewed 3-year, $1 million Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Grant with Halifax Water from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) focused on wastewater surveillance and wastewater treatment optimization. This award is one of the largest CRD grants ever awarded to a faculty member at Dalhousie University. The goal of her research is to improve the effluent quality of the wastewater systems operated by Halifax Water. Through a series of studies Dr. Stoddart and her research team will identify chemical treatment optimizations, illuminate fouling mechanisms, test new technologies for disinfection, and assess discharge of contaminants of emerging concern, including microplastics.
The Nova Scotia Utilities and Review Board has approved rate increases for Halifax Water totalling 7.2 per cent, the first increase in water rates since 2016. A release from the municipally owned utility on Monday said the board had issued a decision that will see water rates for the average residential customer increase by 3.6 per cent in December 2022 and 3.6 per cent in April 2023.
Not many homes in Halifax have a secret staircase that tunnels down four storeys to a vast concrete cavern. But stepping inside the modest brown house on Duffus Street, it's clear this isn't a normal home. The building is owned by Halifax Water, and is used to conceal the entrance to a tunnel that descends into a pumping station hidden beneath Barrington Street. "It was designed to fit into the neighbourhood so it wouldn't be as intrusive or ugly," said Jake Fulton, a spokesperson for Halifax Water.
Halifax Water is again asking people to stay away from Halifax harbour and flush less. In a news release Sunday night, the utility said a wastewater pump failure is causing "screened but untreated" wastewater to be released into the harbour. "Residents and visitors are strongly advised not to go swimming or participate in recreational activities requiring water contact in Halifax Harbour until further notice," the release said. The utility is asking people living in Larry Uteck, Park West, Clayton Park, Fairview and parts of the west and north ends of Halifax to reduce the amount of water they flush and pour down their drains.
Untreated wastewater and stormwater are no longer flowing untreated into Halifax harbour three days after a pump failed at Halifax Water's Duffus Street pump station. The pump began operating again at 4 p.m. Friday and was monitored overnight, Halifax Water said in a media release Saturday. Wastewater and stormwater are now being pumped from the station to the wastewater treatment facility on Upper Water Street.
Halifax Water is asking people in certain parts of the municipality to flush less often as repairs are underway to a pump that's causing wastewater to flow into Halifax harbour. A map provided by the utility Wednesday afternoon highlights the Larry Uteck area, Park West, Clayton Park, Fairview, parts of the west end and parts of north-end Halifax. "This will help minimize the amount of wastewater released into the environment," the utility stated in a news release.
Halifax Water is advising people not to swim or to do anything that requires contacting the water in Halifax harbour until further notice. On Tuesday, the utility said the failure of an emergency pump is the cause of stormwater and wastewater flowing into the harbour. "We would strongly advise residents to not go swimming or participate in any recreational activities that require water contact ... just to be on the safe side," said Jeff Myrick, a spokesperson for Halifax Water.
Halifax Water hopes at least part of a sewer project can be completed within the next six weeks — even though the timeline is partly why the cost has more than doubled. New pipes are needed along sections of South Park Street and University Avenue to the end of Cathedral Lane. The work was originally supposed to be done in 2020. The wait for funding approval delayed construction until 2021.
Halifax Water has determined its drinking water in the Burnside area of Dartmouth is safe after it reported potentially high levels of chlorine early Sunday. The water utility said in a release issued overnight that it "experienced an issue" with its water treatment plant in Burnside that could temporarily cause the higher levels. The utility said a few hundred customers in the area were advised to run cold water from their taps if they smelled a strong odour of chlorine.
Halifax Water will start infrastructure upgrade work on Friday that may affect the supply and quality of water in Dartmouth and surrounding areas for up to five weeks. A news release from the utility said the work being done is part of a 10-year plan to adapt water supply plants to a "changing climate." Customers in Burnside, Commodore Park, Crichton Park, Dartmouth, Eastern Passage, Ellenvale, Grahams Corner, Micmac Village, Port Wallace, Southdale, Tufts Cove, Wallace Heights, Woodside and Wrights Cove areas may experience lower water pressure, discoloured water and a change in the taste and smell of their water.
Water was shut off Monday for dozens of customers in Halifax after a water main burst and a sinkhole developed on a street lined with homes and businesses. Halifax Water said it was made aware of a potential water main issue around 5:30 a.m. AT on Agricola Street, a busy thoroughfare that connects north-end and central Halifax. The street was closed between Sarah and Woodill streets while crews responded, and water service was shut down between West and Cunard streets, affecting about 51 civic addresses.
Nova Scotia's Department of Environment is investigating a suspected blue-green algae bloom in Grand Lake, north of Fall River, after two dogs died and one person was sent to hospital Wednesday. The province issued an emergency alert early Thursday morning, warning all residents who take water directly from Grand Lake to stop using the water immediately. "What we do know is there's obviously a toxin," Julie Towers, the department's deputy minister, said Thursday afternoon. "Whether it's human-caused or a natural source is to be determined."
Atlantic region First Nations Chiefs and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) have signed a framework agreement on a ground-breaking water utility that will oversee the drinking water and wastewater operations for over half of the First Nations population in the region. The agreement will transfer control and management of water and wastewater services for 15 Mi'kmaw and Wolastoqey communities from ISC to a single First Nations-led organization, and comes with a $2.5 million federal investment to get the water authority started on recruitment, training of staff and other operational costs.
Nova Scotia researchers are looking into flushing out new ways to track COVID-19. Studies in countries such as the Netherlands and Switzerland have targeted the genetic remnants of the deadly virus in municipal wastewater systems. They found that tracking the ribonucleic acid (RNA) fingerprint of COVID-19 in specific wastewater locations mirrored the later emergence of cases through clinical testing in the community.
Halifax Water is considering an expensive proposal to speed up the replacement of its customers’ underground lead pipes in the wake of a groundbreaking investigation, exposing widespread risk of contaminated tap water in hundreds of thousands of homes in Nova Scotia and across Canada. The utility board will review a report during a meeting on Thursday that cites the Tainted Water series as an impetus for the recommended course of action. The new plan would cost $14 million, but save money in the long run, the report said.
