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 decades of boil water advisories are over for Hiawatha First Nation after the completion of the first phase of the community’s new water treatment plant and distribution system. A grand opening was held earlier this week for the new plant and system situation in the First Nation located 30 kilometres south of Peterborough. Chief Laurie Carr says the system is a symbol of change for the community which has long advocated for better long-term solutions for boil-water advisories across Canada.
People in the northern Manitoba city of Thompson are being told to boil their water after routine testing revealed a failure in the filtration process. The failure has allowed poorly treated water to enter the distribution system, says a notice posted May 10 by Manitoba Health. Water must be boiled for at least one minute before using it for consumption, which includes drinking, making ice, preparing food or baby formula, washing vegetables and brushing teeth, the advisory says.
An investment by the Province will help improve and ensure access to clean water for people in Port Hawkesbury. The $1.1 million in funding to upgrade the water supply and distribution system will provide a new above ground building and associated equipment, replacing the Pitt Street water tower and the existing pressure reducing valve vault on MacDonald Street.
Delivery of safe and high-quality drinking water is an essential public service, but it’s not easy to monitor water quality in real-time close to customers’ homes. Thanks to a new research partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, TELUS and the Regional District of North Okanagan, researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus will begin to address this gap by leveraging new sensors to wirelessly monitor water quality in the distribution system.
About 100 homes in Fort McKay, Alta., are under a boil-water advisory after a water-line break caused the northern community's water distribution system to lose pressure. Residents didn't have access to water for part of Sunday. Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Indigenous Services Canada issued boil-water advisories, with AHS describing the issue as a water-line break.
Callander’s operations department is teaming up with the Ontario Clean Water Agency to flush the entire drinking water distribution system within the municipality. Work begins today and carries on until Friday, September 10, between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. During this process, the municipality warns that some residents may encounter discoloured water. Rust or sedimentation may also be visible in water throughout the week.
Residents of Standoff are advised that they should boil their water before drinking or cooking. Indigenous Services Canada says there has been an equipment failure at the Standoff Public Water Supply, resulting in a pressure loss in the distribution system. They are telling the public to boil water for at least one minute prior to drinking, making infant formula, brushing teeth, washing fruits or vegetables, or making ice. Tap water is still safe for handwashing, but people should be careful with showering.
The aeration system that had the potential to significantly reduce the level of trihalomethanes (THMs) in Tottenham’s drinking water is struggling to make much of a difference. The Town of New Tecumseth hired engineering consultant R.V. Anderson Associates Limited to conduct a year-long review of the effectiveness of the $800,000 aeration system activated at the Mill Street reservoir in October 2019. The report concluded that the annual running average level of THMs declined 10 per cent compared to prior sample data from 2019. The report also found the variability of THM levels has been reduced by six to 10 per cent within the distribution system.
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director with the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, says cisterns can pose health risks to those who rely on them. She says the structures can have cracked lids, which allows all sorts of debris to get into them — including rats, mice, drowned puppies and garbage — and they’re often not cleaned properly. On top of that, she says the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association is concerned that there is no certification program for water truck drivers. The group wants to create such a program where drivers would have to be trained in how to keep the water safe and be held accountable if things go wrong. “Because right now there’s no accountability,” she says.
Students plan to launch a second letter-writing campaign in the new year addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller calling for clean running water for First Nations communities. The letter campaign is called "We haven't forgotten you," said Frank Pio, the school board's Indigenous education teacher. "It's really unfair that they don't get safe water to drink," Comazzi said.
The NDP MPP for the region with the longest-running boil water advisories of any First Nations in Canada is demanding the Ontario government become part of the solution. Sol Mamakwa, who represents the riding of Kiiwetinoong in northwestern Ontario, said the provincial government could do more to help alleviate the suffering of communities on long-term drinking water advisories.
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
