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.
I put seven of Canada's bottled water brands to the test to uncover the real composition of their contents. Although it's generally safe to consume bottled water in our nation, I wanted to dig deeper. The question is not just about safety, but about which brands offer the best quality, and which ones you might be better off avoiding. I opted for some of the most popular brands including Flow, Nestlé Pure Life, Smartwater, Aquafina, Naya, Dasani and Eska.
In Saskatchewan, people can also opt for aquamation. It's been touted as a greener, more environmentally-friendly way to deal with a corpse. Aquamation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, uses water flow, temperature and alkalinity to speed up the decomposition of the body while it is in an airtight, stainless steel container. "All it does is accelerate nature's process," said Jan Porten, managing director for Eirene Funeral Services in Saskatchewan.
Through the use of “natural materials,” the alkalinity of Metro Vancouver’s water will be doubled to about 20 mg/L, expressed as calcium carbonate. The region’s water pH will increase from the existing target of 7.7 to a new target range of 8.3 to 8.5. Health Canada’s guidelines for safe drinking water quality stipulates a pH range from 7.0 to 10.5. During the water treatment process, the regional district already adjusts the pH as the untreated source water is naturally slightly acidic.
A group dedicated to protecting Canada’s freshwater is looking for citizen scientists to keep an eye on Lake Erie. The Canadian Freshwater Alliance is seeking 40 volunteers to become a Lake Erie Guardian who will test samples from the lake’s watershed. Testing will be done once a month from April to October with kits provided by Water Rangers, a non-profit group that records and analyzes water data. “Partnering with Water Rangers is new in terms of this initiative,” said Raj Gill, who oversees programs for the Great Lakes on behalf of the Alliance. “This is big growth for us.”
Over the last few years, WWF Canada conducted research that showed information on the health of Canada's water was lacking across the country. "We found that 65 per cent of our watersheds didn't have enough data available to understand the health of them," said Heather Crochetiere, senior fresh water specialist at WWF Canada.
Alkaline water, which is water that has been treated to have a higher pH level than the 6.5-7.5 pH range of most tap and bottled water, is experiencing a surge of popularity. Beyoncé helped kickstart the trend in 2013 when reports surfaced that she included alkaline water on a rider for her Mrs Carter Show world tour. Tom Brady is another celebrity who has professed his love for the stuff. According to data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation, a research and consultancy group, the alkaline water market has grown from being a $47m business in 2014 to a $427m business in 2017. It’s projected to be worth $687m by the end of 2018.
Water always contains some amount of dissolved solids (inorganic salts like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium, for example), which influences its pH. According to Nicole M. Hancock, executive director of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, the higher the total dissolved solids, the more alkaline the water tends to be. The pH of tap water is close to 7, while water with more alkaline compounds in it typically has a pH of 8 or 9.
Nicole Hancock, the executive director of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, said systems exist that would take care of all contaminants and produce water that "would taste and smell great."
"I think that they should build a high quality treatment plant for a fraction of the cost," said Hancock. "We think that it would cost them less than $500,000. That's less than one-sixth of the cost."
"I don't think they've looked into these options," said Heney. "I don't think they want this town to stay here."
