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.
A town near Quebec City declared a state of local emergency and other communities ordered preventive evacuations on Tuesday as torrential rain caused rivers across southern Quebec to burst free of their banks. By Tuesday, between 500 and 600 people were forced from their homes in Ste-Brigitte-de-Laval, where the mayor declared a state of emergency for the next 48 hours.
Fortune Business Insights recently valued the global water and wastewater treatment market at US$301 million in 2022. The same report forecasts that this market will deliver a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.5% from 2022 through to 2030, capping the market value out at US$536 billion. This is a market that is well worth seeking exposure to.
"The challenge is not necessarily our water sources, but rather our ability to produce and deliver it, " said Marie-Josée Asselin, vice-president of the city's executive committee. "When everyone consumes water at the same time, this is when we put ourselves at risk in terms of distribution and production." Quebec City found that watering lawns has put the most pressure on its drinking water tanks in dry weather.
It’s been nearly one week since local officials learned the federal government chose Winnipeg over Sault Ste. Marie as the host city for the Canada Water Agency (CWA) headquarters. Disappointed by the decision, members of the CWA task force in town remained hopeful the Sault could still have some involvement with the federal agency by hosting a regional hub.
"They did find that we should be filtering our water in the schools," she said, adding that the band office has agreed to carry out further tests. Roy said the quality of the water source, Mistissini Lake, is very, very good, but down the line in the school the water quality drops noticeably. The students also studied four different types of filtering options, including some traditional methods, such as using moss or a heavy cotton, as well as modern charcoal filters. In their evaluation, the students also took into account cost and environmental impacts of the different filtration methods.
Quebec City has issued a boil water advisory for parts of the borough of Charlesbourg after a water main break in Place des Colibris Monday evening. The advisory is in place for people living in the area bounded by Jean-Talon Boulevard to the south, the Laurentian autoroute to the east, Saint-Samuel Avenue to the west and 41st Avenue West and East to the north. The city said residents should boil their water for at least one minute.
Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is proud to announce that it has recently acquired six properties, totaling more than 80 hectares of wetlands in the regional county municipality of Pontiac. Located in the municipalities of Isle-aux-Allumettes and Île-du-Grand-Calumet in the Outaouais region, the various properties have great ecological value, particularly because of their strategic location on the periphery of the Ottawa River, a high-priority area for the conservation of waterfowl and their habitats.
The deadline for military members and their families to apply for compensation after drinking contaminated water is approaching fast — and federal opposition parties are urging Ottawa not to block an application for an extension. Some current and former members and their families who lived in CFB Valcartier's married quarters from 1995 to 2000 could be eligible for thousands of dollars in compensation — if they apply before the Jan.15 deadline.
Water levels are being monitored Thursday morning in the Quebec City area after Environment Canada issued another storm surge warning for several areas. Environment Canada warns that higher than normal water levels will be observed between 7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. as large waves could form near the coast. The storm surge warning affects the Bellechasse, Côte-de-Beaupré--L'Île d'Orléans, Lévis and Quebec City areas.
Emergency repairs in one of Quebec City's two wastewater treatment plants have succeeded in stopping the release of untreated sewage into the St. Lawrence River. Some 21,000 cubic metres of raw sewage had been flowing untreated into the river every hour since Saturday night because of a broken valve. Late yesterday, an underwater diver working in the tunnel filled with wastewater managed to make repairs, allowing the treatment plant to resume operating at about 60 per cent capacity. It's expected to be back at full capacity today.
Montrealers can expect around 5 centimetres of snow today and a storm surge warning is in effect for Quebec City. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a coastal flood warning in the Quebec region Sunday with higher than normal water levels expected near the coast in the afternoon and evening.
Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume is asking residents to avoid using the municipality's drinking water on lawns, driveways, or to fill private pools, for at least the next two weeks. At a press conference Tuesday, he said while the territory typically sees about 100 millimetres of rain in August, only 10 millimetres have fallen so far this month. Labeaume said there is less than a month's worth of reserves left, which he called "concerning," and it's expected the current heat warning will stay in place for another few days, exacerbating the situation.
The excrement that is flushed away in Canadian toilets each day is the world's "most underrated, limitless resource,'' says the creator of a new museum exhibit that delves into one of humankind's messiest subjects. Coline Niess of the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City says the upcoming exhibit titled "Oh Shit!'' will explore all the facets of human waste — and that it's not a laughing matter.
