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.
The city is considering putting in drinking fountains for humans and pooches in parks, according to a report that went to the planning and environment committee Monday. Thirty-six parks could be potentially suitable for the water servicing, the report states. Right now, 24 city parks have water fountains, but none of the five off-leash dog parks do.
A group of engineering students says it's found a way to make drinking fountains available year-round in Toronto, and is calling on the city to pour out the funds to make that vision a reality. The solution sprang from a University of Toronto class project on technology for global development, where five students were tasked with finding a way to make drinking fountains operational throughout the year.
There’s no time like the present for Project Water, a program by the charity Engage and Change. With temperatures expected to feel close to 43 C with humidity on Thursday in the GTA, Project Water founder Jody Steinhauer was busy helping distribute about 700,000 water bottles from the parking lot of her 34-year-old discount wholesale business, Bargains Group, with the precious cargo going to the homeless in more than 200 locations. “How sad is that, that the agencies that were serving don’t have access to drinking water, drinking fountains,” said Steinhauer. “Homelessness is not a downtown Toronto problem — it’s spread everywhere.”
Water samples taken at four public schools in Ontario, Canada, from June 2021 show lead levels are higher than the national safety guideline. The schools are Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School, Stewart Avenue Public School, John Darling Public School and Elmira District Secondary School, reported The Waterloo Regional Record. Water samples taken June 9 to 10 at KCI showed levels of lead in two drinking fountains were higher than provincial targets, according to the principal in a letter, reported The Waterloo Regional Record. Tests at John Darling school on June 11 found one tap water fountain to exceed lead targets.
