filtration

Drinking water, aquatic life at risk due to B.C.’s fire-ravaged summer: experts

Drinking water, aquatic life at risk due to B.C.’s fire-ravaged summer: experts

Experts say the extent to which wildfires have burned across the province this year will have serious implications for the quality of B.C.’s watersheds and the ecosystems that rely on them. John Richardson, a Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences professor at the University of British Columbia, says with so many hillsides scorched by wildfires this year, there’s nothing to prevent incoming rain from creating a “debris torrent” — something which spells bad news for the province’s drinking water.

Boil water advisory issued for city of Thompson, Man.

Boil water advisory issued for city of Thompson, Man.

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.

Water Advisory Continues for Shubenacadie Grand Lake

Water Advisory Continues for Shubenacadie Grand Lake

The provincial Department of Environment and Climate Change is advising people in the Shubenacadie Grand Lake area to avoid using lake water over the weekend. The department is investigating water quality after a complaint earlier this week about two dogs dying after being in contact with a substance on the lakeshore. Rapid tests done on water samples from the lake on Thursday, June 10, were inconclusive. However, based on visual evidence from the time the complaint about water quality was made, the incident is being treated as a blue-green algae bloom. Additional test results will be available Monday.

Decontaminating pesticide-polluted water using engineered nanomaterial and sunlight

Decontaminating pesticide-polluted water using engineered nanomaterial and sunlight

QUÉBEC, Jan. 15 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Atrazine is one of the most widely used pesticides in North America. Researchers at the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) have developed a new method to degrade it that combines a new nanostructured material and sunlight.  Atrazine is found throughout the environment, even in the drinking water of millions of people across the country. Conventional water treatments are not effective in degrading this pesticide. Newer processes are more effective, but use chemicals that can leave toxic by-products in the environment.