With many residents of Woodlands County utilizing well water, the municipality hosted a virtual workshop on October 21 on managing wells. The event streamed live and enabled attendees to ask questions in real-time. Multiple specialists were on hand, including Jeff Hammer, a Public Health Inspector for Alberta Health Services. Hammer discussed the importance of testing water and why it’s essential to do so. “We have two types of tests available at the health units. One is a bacteriological bottle which we test for total Coliform and E. coli. Total Coliform is an indicator of bacteria, and E. coli is basically fecal matter which you never want to see. The other type of test we have is a chemical water sample. It does a bunch of minerals and metals and has some more health parameters associated with it.” Hammer said that some of the minerals and metals tested for include manganese, lead, arsenic, and the pH value of the water.
Portable water testing kits can be used for 'citizen science' across Canada
Over the last few years, WWF Canada conducted research that showed information on the health of Canada's water was lacking across the country. "We found that 65 per cent of our watersheds didn't have enough data available to understand the health of them," said Heather Crochetiere, senior fresh water specialist at WWF Canada.