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.
Southern Alberta has seen some of the most exceptional drought in the country over the last few months — so it's no surprise that these conditions can possibly lead to dry and sensitive skin. This is especially so for newcomers to the province, like University of Calgary graduate Elisha Banerjee. "I was used to the cold, that was the part that was easy, it was the dry that I was not prepared for," she said.
People who live in rural parts of Nova Scotia that have wells on their property are in a bind these days. Water-softener salt, which is used to treat hard water, is in hot demand because there is little of it at stores in the province. "I've been looking for it for about three or four weeks," said Carol Morrison, who lives in Oakfield, a community about 30 kilometres north of Halifax. Morrison said she is keeping a close eye on how much water she is using until she can secure more water softener. "I take short showers, reduce the number of washes I do and really make sure the dishwasher is loaded right up before I run it through." The reason for the shortage is a strike by employees at Windsor Salt in Ontario. It's one of Canada's biggest producers of water-softening salt and there is now a huge hole in the market. Other companies' shipments have been making it to some stores like Costco, but they are quickly snapped up.
Anyone who has stood fully dressed in the shower, scrubbing away annoying calcium build up, knows Calgary has hard water. The high concentration of minerals in the water is also responsible for spotty dishes, stiff laundry, icky soap scum and eroded tea kettles, not to mention dry skin and limp hair. Luckily, hard water isn’t unhealthy, but it can be a drain on the pocketbook.
People in six west Saint John neighbourhoods could have new drinking water in two weeks. Those areas; Randolph, Milford, Fundy Heights, Lower West, Duck Cove and Sand Cove, will be disconnected from the current groundwater well system and switched to treated water from the Loch Lomond Lakes on the city's east side as early as Feb. 12. City water commissioner Brent McGovern said there will be a changeover period of as much as two weeks during which water from both sources will be in the system.
