Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

plumbing

Laval residents can use water but told not to consume it as advisory still in effect

Laval residents can use water but told not to consume it as advisory still in effect

Laval residents in the Ste-Dorothée district can now use their tap water but officials warned Thursday it still isn’t safe to drink, even if boiled. City officials first put out a notice on Tuesday, telling residents not to use their tap water at all. The advisory was issued after firefighters extinguished a blaze in the area and contaminants were found in the water. City officials suspect one of the products used to extinguish the blaze entered the local water supply for a brief amount of time.

Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant to explore use of orthophosphate to combat lead

Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant to explore use of orthophosphate to combat lead

Cities can lower the amount of lead dissolving into residents’ water either by making their water less acidic by adjusting pH levels or adding orthophosphate to the water, which creates a protective film inside plumbing reducing the amount of lead that leaches into the water. A pilot program to begin sometime this year will look at using orthophosphate in both Regina and Moose Jaw as a way to mitigate risks of lead service connections (LSCs) present in both cities. “I am assuming there is benefit, but we have to confirm that there is,” said Ryan Johnson, president and CEO of the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant in an interview Thursday.

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