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

regional system

Melfort Water Treatment Plant upgrades lower risk of precautionary drinking water advisories

Melfort Water Treatment Plant upgrades lower risk of precautionary drinking water advisories

A new $9.6 million addition to the Melfort water treatment plant is intended to extend the longevity of the regional system, providing redundancy and a 40 to 50 year life span. The original water treatment plant in Melfort was built in 1958 and underwent upgrades in 1972. It was expanded in 1994, shortly after SaskWater purchased the plant. The system supplies water to approximately 9,000 users from the City of Melfort, the Melfort Rural Pipeline Association, the Village of Weldon, the Town of Kinistino, the Village of Beatty, the Town of Star City, Star City Farming, and Wapiti Valley Regional Park as well as several individual rural users.

$126-million water treatment plant opens in Comox Valley

$126-million water treatment plant opens in Comox Valley

The Comox Lake reservoir provides some of the best drinking water anywhere in B.C., but even at that, there have been numerous boil water advisories over the years in the Comox Valley. “They started in October 2014 and we had roughly 140 days of boil water notice,” said Mike Herschmiller, Manager of Water Services at the Comox Valley Regional District. With every big fall storm that stirred up the lake, a boil water advisory was sure to follow and everyone on the system in Courtenay, Comox, the K’omoks First Nation and areas of the Regional district were affected by it.

Strathmore left out of Calgary fluoride debate

Strathmore left out of Calgary fluoride debate

Despite receiving its water from Calgary through a regional system, Strathmore has been left out of discussions about reintroducing fluoride to the city’s potable water. In 2011, Calgary water fluoridation was discontinued. But in 2019, the City of Calgary started discussions about adding fluoride to the city’s water supply once again. A report to Calgary city council was presented on Dec. 14, 2020, stating that adding fluoride to the water supply would cost about $30 million over two decades, including about $10.1 million in capital expenses, about $1 million per year in operating and maintenance costs, and about $2 million to $4 million in upgrades over that period. The report stated an associated change in water utility rates or service levels are not anticipated, though this is not guaranteed.

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