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.
Following W5’s report, and in an abundance of caution, the City consulted with the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. On May 23, 2023, staff collected a sample of water from the Glen Collector System at the Arkell Spring Grounds. Lex Scientific was contracted to analyze the sample and on June 1, 2023, the City received the results of the sample. The Lex Scientific water analysis technical memo indicated tests showed no detection of asbestos fibres in the raw water groundwater sample.
The costs and damages of flooding are overwhelming communities along coasts, near rivers and on big lakes. Across the country, urban floods are happening at a rate and extent that is pushing disaster resilience to the forefront of public safety discussions. We all pay the price of more frequent flooding, even if the danger and damage are happening in someone else’s town. In fact, the Insurance Institute of Canada reports that the multi-billion-dollar cost of insurance claims is on track to more than double over the course of a decade.
The Vancouver School Board (VSB) says it has worked to find desks for more than 500 students after flooding at an elementary school put the building out of commission for a number of months. School board staff said water pipes at Sir James Douglas Elementary in South Vancouver froze and burst during the recent cold weather, causing extensive flooding. VSB said staff searched for an alternate location for the school's approximately 525 enrolled students.
Islanders in rural areas using wells are being asked to test their water following power outages due to Fiona. Bacteria like coliform, which can make people sick, can form in pipes if there is no water filling them. Amy Carver lives in Long Creek and says she found out her water should be tested through a family friend. "We went and got tested as soon as we could and came back positive for coliform bacteria in a number that's not a safe number to have in your drinking water. And now we have a whole new set of adjustments to make," she said. "The lab that does the testing gave us an outline of precautions we needed to take and different ways to manage some household activities such as dishes. You can use the water to wash them, but you have to sanitize them in a bleach solution and air dry them."
With the dramatic temperature increases and climate change over the past years, water consumption has risen dramatically across the globe. Despite being a critical asset, water is undervalued across many parts of the world, and its use is largely unsustainable. The rise in water demand coupled with limited supply and uneven distribution are leading to water stress across the various region around the globe. Water losses are often caused by inadequate maintenance of the distribution network. With a 75- to 100-year lifespan, much of America's underground pipes are due for replacement. Based on an analysis by the American Water Works Association, approximately one-third of water mains nationwide will require replacement by 2040.
The excavation next door stopped 15 months ago but Wendy Richards is still digging out of the hole left behind. The Manotick woman has been fighting to have her property — and peace of mind — restored after unauthorized construction removed mature trees and a pile of earth within inches of her 1886 foundation. And, just when it looked like things couldn’t get any worse, my, how they did. “I don’t even know what to do anymore.” Richards woke up Jan. 11 to discover there was no water in the taps — frozen pipes, which she is convinced are a side-effect of her foundation now broadly exposed to the winter elements.
A tap in the basement of Winnipeg City Hall has been deliberately left running for nearly as long as the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted in Manitoba. Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) raised the issue of the flowing faucet at Thursday's council meeting, saying it has poured the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools down the drain. "If a 50-year-old building requires taps to be on 24 hours a day, we have some serious issues," Nason told reporters after the city council meeting.
Officials in Laval, Que., working with police, have launched an investigation after green space advocates captured video of what appears to be camouflage-clad men covertly draining a patch of wetland over the weekend. It's still not known why the men allegedly dragged large pipes, a pump and hoses into a wooded sector near Saint-Elzéar Boulevard West, but Laval's deputy mayor, Stéphane Boyer, says it certainly won't lead to any construction permits being issued — if that was their plan.
Water was shut off Monday for dozens of customers in Halifax after a water main burst and a sinkhole developed on a street lined with homes and businesses. Halifax Water said it was made aware of a potential water main issue around 5:30 a.m. AT on Agricola Street, a busy thoroughfare that connects north-end and central Halifax. The street was closed between Sarah and Woodill streets while crews responded, and water service was shut down between West and Cunard streets, affecting about 51 civic addresses.
Through the use of “natural materials,” the alkalinity of Metro Vancouver’s water will be doubled to about 20 mg/L, expressed as calcium carbonate. The region’s water pH will increase from the existing target of 7.7 to a new target range of 8.3 to 8.5. Health Canada’s guidelines for safe drinking water quality stipulates a pH range from 7.0 to 10.5. During the water treatment process, the regional district already adjusts the pH as the untreated source water is naturally slightly acidic.
A week after the evacuation of a remote First Nation in northwestern Ontario, First Nations leaders say there is still no plan to restore running water to the community. It's possible evacuees may not be able to return to Neskantaga this winter, Mamakwa said. "Especially during a pandemic, to see the continued complacency of government, in 2020, in Ontario, in Canada, you can see how racism affects this community," Mamakwa said. That racism costs lives, he added, noting that a 23-year-old woman died by suicide in Neskantaga last year, without ever having tasted clean water from the tap in her home.
One in five Winnipeg homeowners with lead pipes will get unacceptable levels of lead in their drinking water the moment they turn on the tap, according to the City of Winnipeg. Under the city's lead water quality testing program, samples were taken from 268 homes with lead pipes between Aug. 15 and Nov. 19. The testing was done to ensure water quality met new national guidelines for lead in drinking water, which cut the acceptable amount of contamination in half last March. "Overall, the results are as expected," Renee Grosselle, manager of environmental standards with the City of Winnipeg, told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
An Indigenous-led group plans to offer to buy a majority stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline from the Canadian government this week or next, a deal that could help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mitigate election-year criticism from environmentalists. The group, called Project Reconciliation, aims to submit the $6.9 billion offer as early as Friday, managing director Stephen Mason told Reuters, and start negotiations with Ottawa two weeks later. Project Reconciliation said the investment will alleviate First Nations poverty, a watershed for Indigenous people who have historically watched Canada’s resources enrich others.
For the first time almost three decades, Health Canada has updated its guideline for lead in drinking water — cutting the acceptable concentration of the metal in half. The decision is based on the latest science, according to the government body, which worked with the provinces and territories to reduce the maximum acceptable concentration from 0.01 mg/L, set in 1992, to 0.005 mg/L.
A decades-old pipe that carries Yellowknife's drinking water is going to be replaced in a project funded by the federal and municipal governments. Wednesday's announcement comes more than a year after a consultant's report laid out two options: use a less expensive pipe connecting to a closer water supply or replace the current pipe for nearly $15 million more.
The construction of a modest road into a small community wouldn't usually get a full ground-breaking photo op, complete with gold-coloured shovels and government officials. But for the Semiahmoo First Nation, the road work is just the first step toward new water infrastructure that will end the community's 15-year permanent boil water advisory. "I'm waiting for a day to be able to turn on a tap and drink a glass of water," said Harley Chappell, Semiahmoo's elected chief. "That's the goal."
It stains laundry, corrodes pipes and looks terrible. The water that people in Black Tickle use for bathing and doing laundry is treated with chlorine but it remains dark and muddy because of high iron content. "It's almost like either coffee or Coke," resident Sheldon Morris said, "and it stains everything, and that's the worst."
