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.
safe and high-quality drinking water
Delivery of safe and high-quality drinking water is an essential public service, but it’s not easy to monitor water quality in real-time close to customers’ homes. Thanks to a new research partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, TELUS and the Regional District of North Okanagan, researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus will begin to address this gap by leveraging new sensors to wirelessly monitor water quality in the distribution system.
The first phase of a multi-year upgrade of a municipal water treatment facility in Brandon, Man. is beginning this month. The project is kicking off with the construction of a dedicated chemical building connected to the existing water treatment plant. The new chemical building will consolidate the storage of chemicals and allow for a switch in the current disinfectant process from that of using gaseous chlorine to a safer one of using liquid chlorine sodium hypochlorite. In addition, the building has been designed with the capacity required to test the potential of orthophosphate dosing as a corrosion control method as it relates to the City of Brandon’s wider Lead Water Services Strategy. A new ring road providing access to the entire facility will also be constructed.
