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.
"It concerns us. The water, the land, the medicine on it will be destroyed. The caribou that are roaming in that area and all the mushrooms and wild rice there. All of it would be contaminated," said Elder Eileen Linklater, one of the eight grandmothers who organized the protest. "Mines usually have spills. Yes, they build reservoirs, but they overflow and it would go into water streams. Also, they will release a lot of gasses into the air." Asked to comment on the concerns being expressed by the protesters, Foran said some of the information the concerns are based on is "misleading and untrue."
Water is regarded as the second most important source of life, behind air, which most organic life requires constantly. The oldest water in the world is found in Canada, specifically the Kidd Creek mine in northern Ontario. In 2016, researchers discovered what is thought to be the oldest water, estimated to be at least 2 billion years old, but more likely 2.7 billion. The circumstances at the mine's bottom have been ideal for preserving the water. This ancient water was discovered at a depth of 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) because the Kidd Creek mine is the world's deepest basal metal mine, holding numerous metal minerals such as copper, zinc, and silver.
A new courthouse in Abbotsford has been found to have copper and lead in its water. In a statement to CBC News earlier this week, B.C.'s Ministry of Citizens' Services confirmed water testing completed in August 2022 at the Abbotsford Law Courts showed copper and lead levels "modestly in excess" of those permitted by regulatory standards.
Tuesday’s announcement marks only the 14th time in the roughly 50-year history of the federal Clean Water Act that the EPA has flexed its powers to bar or restrict activities over potential impacts to waters, including fisheries. EPA Administrator Michael Regan said his agency’s use of its so-called veto authority in this case “underscores the true irreplaceable and invaluable natural wonder that is Bristol Bay.”
Drinking water tested: The quality of drinking water was another concern for the inmates participating in the hunger strike. Eagle said last month the water smelled and tasted so bad she was boiling it, Maier said on Thursday. According to the provincial Ministry of SaskBuilds and Procurement, which manages and maintains provincial government buildings, the water at Pine Grove was tested and sent to a Saskatchewan Research Council lab for analysis on Oct. 5. A total of 30 tests were done, and officials on-site did not detect any unusual odour or taste in the water, the ministry said in an email to CBC on Friday.
Residents of Old East Village are teaming up to help an 80-year-old woman who was left without running water after thieves broke into the basement of the house she rents and ripped out the copper plumbing. Shirly Roberts lives in the neighbourhood in a rental house. She lives alone, and recently underwent a double knee replacement. Originally from Grenada, she has no family in Canada.
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.
Teck Resources Limited (TSX: TECK.A and TECK.B, NYSE: TECK) (“Teck”) Teck announced today that commissioning is now underway at its Elkview Saturated Rock Fill (Elkview SRF) expansion, which doubles the water treatment facility’s capacity to 20 million litres of water per day. The Elkview SRF has been achieving near complete removal of selenium and nitrate from up to 10 million litres of water per day since 2018 and is part of Teck’s ongoing work to implement the Elk Valley Water Quality Plan (EVWQP). The goal of the EVWQP is to maintain the health of the watershed in the area of Teck’s B.C. steelmaking coal operations.
Canada is famously home to 20 percent of the world’s freshwater — but how well are we stewarding this supply? WWF-Canada recently reassessed the health of our country’s 25 watersheds to better understand how they’re responding to threats from pollution, habitat loss and climate change. Our 2020 Watershed Reports found that 26 per cent of Canadas’s 167 sub-watersheds received a score of Good or Very Good, which is good or very good news! But what’s bad, or possibly very bad, is that nearly 60 per cent of these sub-watersheds received no score at all because they remain Data Deficient. In other words, we just don’t know. This lack of data is concerning as we need a complete picture to determine which areas need dedicated efforts to protect our freshwater ecosystems.
An independent audit is to be conducted into a mental-health hospital in northwestern Saskatchewan following water tests that showed higher than normal levels of copper and lead, says a government official. Mike Carr, deputy minister of central services, says the province learned Oct. 17 that there were some questions about water quality at the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford. Water testing at the mental-health facility “showed irregularities and inconsistency in the results that indicate levels of copper or lead may be higher than desirable levels,” Carr said Friday. “It’s been preliminary testing,” he added. “We felt, out of an abundance of caution, we should take steps to ensure that all users of that facility have access to good drinking water.”
The elected leader of a remote First Nation in B.C. which has been under a boil-water order for 18 years says he’s confident his community will eventually find a solution to its drinking water woes — regardless of which party is elected federally this year. Chief Jimmy Lulua’s comments to the Star came a day after Canada’s new Indigenous Services minister boasted Ottawa has made “progress” on the First Nations drinking water crisis to mark World Water Day on Friday.
