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 COVID-19 testing system has been overwhelmed by the Omicron variant, making it impossible to know how many people are infected. Monitoring for the novel coronavirus in wastewater could help fill the gap, says Rob Delatolla, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Ottawa and one of dozens of researchers across Canada that have been developing and using the technique. "I think it just became that much more valuable," he said.
