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.
Residential water bills in Edmonton are going up about four per cent and commercial bills are going up by about eight per cent, but the increases would have been higher if not for $66-million discount from EPCOR. In a report to Edmonton councillors on March 25, EPCOR expects the average residential water bill to increase by 3.7 per cent in 2022, 2.1 per cent in 2023 and 4.2 per cent in 2024. That means paying $102 a month in 2021, $106 in 2022, $108 in 2023 and $113 in 2024.
January is typically the busiest month for water main breaks in Calgary, but this week more than usual have occurred. On Thursday, the city's website showed 12 broken water mains, seven of which ruptured Wednesday. "That's abnormal," said Lee Dupras, leader of repair and maintenance for drinking water distribution at the City of Calgary. "I have not seen that many in one day come in since I've been in this [department] of the city."
There is a long history of lead pipes being used for drinking water distribution, in Canada and around the world. Many homeowners – with the financial fortitude to do so – have replaced them with specialized plastic over the years but lead pipes still remain in many Canadian homes. Lead pipes are susceptible to corrosion due to the ions present in water, which can cause the lead to leach out of the piping and into the water. To try to prevent this leaching, historically some of the lead pipes in Canada were exchanged with copper pipes. However, when the replacement was only partial, the new connection of copper to lead accelerated the problem through galvanic corrosion.
The Township of Mapleton’s water operator has defended their operation as safe but accepted some improvements can be made to the system. The Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA), the largest water and wastewater operator in Canada, delegated to Mapleton council Tuesday evening to clarify some findings from a recent meeting. OCWA is the operator of Mapleton’s water systems as well as nearby Wellington North, Shelburne and Grand Valley among other municipalities.
A new $40 thousand report concludes scaly material that built up over decades in the water pipes of west Saint John homes was weakened by a change in the water source, which eventually caused leaks. The report follows over 200 complaints of leaking pipes and a series of angry public meetings that concluded in an ongoing class action lawsuit.
