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 problem of lead in Regina’s drinking water has been a discussion point for many years at city hall and in the community. An investigation led by Concordia University’s Institute for Investigative Journalism, published in 2019, found that tap water in Regina, Moose Jaw and Saskatoon had some of the highest measured levels of lead in Canada.
Levels of lead in drinking water city-wide should begin dropping in early 2023 when orthophosphate is added at Edmonton’s water treatment plant, two years later than initially promised. Epcor announced Thursday the odourless, colourless chemical will be added to city water by early 2023. Orthophosphate creates a protective barrier inside a pipe to prevent lead from leaching into the water. Around 4,200 Edmonton homes are currently serviced by lead pipes owned by Epcor, the utility said. Adding this treatment by the end of 2020 was promised as part of broader lead-reducing plans approved by city council in March 2019 around the time Health Canada reduced the concentration of lead in water allowed to five micrograms per litre from 10 micrograms per litre.
In light of a recent investigation that showed high levels of lead in the drinking water of some Regina homes, the city says it’s drafting a motion to fast-track its lead service connection replacement program. “It is definitely a problem and we are not minimizing anything here,” Mayor Michael Fougere said. “We want to make sure that we have the program accelerated so that [on] the city-side, our connections are done right away and at the same time we do the homeowners’ side as well.”
