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.
Two New Brunswick cities are considering opposite approaches when it comes to residential water meters. Bathurst in the northeast has meters but is considering switching to a flat-rate model based on the cost to update its system. Dieppe in the southeast charges a flat rate but will test meters in several hundred homes next year. Meters measure water usage, billing customers at a rate set by the community.
A New Brunswick tourist destination is getting some help fixing its water supply. Fundy Albert, which includes Alma next to Fundy National Park, is getting $12 million to upgrade its aging water infrastructure. This comes after years of boil-water advisories in the community, including one that lasted from July to October.
Zebra mussels, an invasive species that kills native mussels and chokes drinking water systems, have been discovered in the Saint John River in New Brunswick, the farthest east in Canada they've been positively identified. Fisheries and Oceans Canada said last week in a release that environmental DNA tests over the summer had detected the presence of the small Eurasian freshwater mussels with the telltale striped pattern in parts of the river as far apart as Edmundston, Grand Falls and Nackawic, communities that span more than 200 kilometres.
OSO Hotwater Group, a Norwegian company known for its smart stainless steel hot water tanks, is now operating in Canada with the launch of OSO Hotwater Inc. in New Brunswick. CEO Roy A. Magnussen said the company is responding to the need for better water heating tech in Canada, especially for energy-saving and sustainable purposes.
It's part of the city's monitoring for cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, in the water supply for the province's largest metro area. The photosynthetic bacteria can be found in many waterways and isn't necessarily harmful, but some types can produce toxins harmful to humans and animals. The discovery of cyanobacteria in the reservoir six years ago triggered a multimillion-dollar research and upgrade effort that's ongoing.
Four communities in New Brunswick will get a combined $22 million from the federal, provincial and municipal governments to support water infrastructure projects. Tracadie and Rivere-du-Nord will receive $13.2 million, with $8.8 million going to Bathurst and Belle-Baie. Tracadie will use the funding to support the second phase of its multi-phased project to renew aging sanitary sewer, water and storm sewer mains on Principale Street.
The mayor of Fundy Albert says the community of Alma, N.B., is asking for some public washrooms to close in an effort to conserve water. Alma, near Fundy National Park, fills with tourists when the summer months arrive. That often leads to a request to conserve water. "Surprisingly, the use of washrooms is what is significantly contributing to the amount of water that is being used in Alma," Robert Rochon said.
It confirmed this week that legionella had been detected in three cooling towers at the building, and the air-conditioning system was shut down Wednesday. Tests came back negative after the system was shock-cleaned with chlorine, said a followup note to staff Friday, also obtained by Radio-Canada. The temperatures on the three days when the air conditioning was off ranged from about 27 C to 32 C in Bathurst, according to Environment Canada. Drinking water at the hospital also tested negative, according to the second message to hospital staff.
Three popular swimming spots in the greater Saint John area have reopened after being shut down last week because of elevated E. coli levels. Lily Lake and Tucker Park in Saint John and Gondola Point Beach in Quispamsis, N.B., all reopened for swimming Monday after subsequent testing indicated "water quality has returned to normal levels," said Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard. CBC News asked what the elevated readings were and how they compare to set guidelines, but Hatchard did not respond.
With the reservoir low, residents in Alma, N.B., are being asked to conserve water. This comes just days after the Municipality of Fundy Albert advised residents to boil their water. Fundy Albert Mayor Robert Rochon said the issue isn't a lack of water as much as an aging system that can only fill the reservoir so fast. He said the reservoir is fed by a well that can pump 50 gallons of water per minute, but the demand on the system exceeds that.
During Friday’s sweltering hot weather, some Maritimers visited lakefront beaches and were not able to swim due to high E. coli levels. This was the case for Haja Nabay and her son who stopped by Albro Lake Beach in Dartmouth Friday, only to find out that the beach was closed to swimming due to high bacterial levels deemed unsafe for swimming.
A boil water advisory has been issued for the village of Alma, about 79 kilometres south of Moncton, because of high levels of turbidity in the reservoir. "These levels exceed the New Brunswick maximum acceptable concentrations," a notice issued by the local government on Wednesday morning says. Recent heavy rainfall caused the problem, according to chief administrative officer Hanna Downey — a drastic change from last weekend when the village almost ran out of water and had to urge residents to conserve as much as possible.
City officials have said more than 100 residences were damaged because of the storm. Gallant said this detour affects a lot of people in the area. It's a major roadway leading into the city's core. "At least temporarily for now. A lot of people come across here," said Gallant. However, despite the inconvenience, Gallant said he'll do a special garbage collection Tuesday for people affected by flooding.
Julie Gagnon and Hugo Lajoie leaned on the barrier that separates them from their home in Edmundston, N.B. In front of them, a massive hole created by a landslide threatened to swallow up their shed and their house. Thursday's torrential rains forced them from almost all their belongings in the area of Verret Street. They have also been told their insurance does not cover this type of disaster. "I contacted our insurance company for a claim and they rejected it because these damages were not in my contract," Gagnon told Radio-Canada on Saturday while fighting back tears. "I called two or three times and there was nothing to be done. We pay for insurance and we have no help."
Best of the Best Water Taste Test at ACE23 is decided by a panel of judges who participated in a blind taste test. Comprised of trained water flavor profilers, the judges’ panel ranked the City of Miramichi in New Brunswick, Canada as the first-place winner, with the City of Grand Junction in Colorado following in second place, and notably the City of Raleigh in North Carolina claiming third.
Driving along the back roads of the Tantramar marsh on the border of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, you can witness a vast expanse of grass and farmland — but that wasn't always the case. The only reason that area of the Isthmus of Chignecto looks the way it does is because of an engineering marvel that dates back almost 400 years to the 1630s. James Upham, a Moncton historian and educator, says the dikes and aboiteaux built by the Acadians are what made the roads, railways and communities along the marsh possible.
Salt marshes are rich in biodiversity, serving as shelter for young wildlife such as lobster and salmon, and provide waterfowl and other birds with abundant habitat. This critical habitat also helps form a natural barrier that slows wave action and reduces storm surges that can result in floods, impacting the waterfowl, wildlife, and people who call these places home.
Although it isn't quite summer yet, blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, is already showing up in New Brunswick waterways. Meghann Bruce, a researcher and instructor with the University of New Brunswick Canadian Rivers Institute, said as soon as the ice went out in early May, there was a "bloom" in Blue Bell Lake near Grand Falls.
A consultant hired to review the former Liberal government's response to devastating spring flooding in 2018 found gaps in communication and public education. The report, written by consulting firm Calian Emergency Management Solutions, says some people found it difficult to find up-to-date information on road closures and struggled to understand why flood forecasting didn't always seem to match up with reality.
Saint John has been temporarily removed from the national COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard over concerns about the accuracy of its data. Public Health Agency of Canada officials believe "the sampling point and treatment of the sample prior to testing was the origin of the test variance," said spokesperson Anna Maddison. This suggests "the reported values are not reflective of the community burden," said spokesperson Nicholas Janveau.
