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

testing

Canada to continue testing wastewater for COVID-19 spread

Canada to continue testing wastewater for COVID-19 spread

Although the COVID-19 spread is no longer an ongoing pandemic in the eyes of the World Health Organization, the federal government will still be monitoring potential spread rates through waste water. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that the Public Health Agency of Canada is partnering with the Canadian Water Network to monitor Canadian wastewater. Duclos said in a statement how this national wastewater surveillance program will help keep Canadians healthy through guidance materials and wastewater data.

Manitoba Government Launches Recognition Campaign for Schools and Child-care Centres Meeting National Lead in Drinking Water Guidelines

Manitoba Government Launches Recognition Campaign for Schools and Child-care Centres Meeting National Lead in Drinking Water Guidelines

Additionally, the Manitoba government is launching a lead in drinking water compliance recognition campaign, which identifies facilities that have been tested and demonstrate compliance with the national guideline for lead in drinking water. Schools and child-care centres that meet the national guideline for lead in drinking water will be recognized with a “certified lead tested” sticker. The sticker demonstrates a school or child-care centre’s commitment to safety and assures parents that steps have been taken to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water, the minister noted.

Bright orange ocean water being tested by B.C. scientists

Bright orange ocean water being tested by B.C. scientists

Scientists are taking a close look at a bright orange algae bloom found in the ocean off Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. Svetlana Esenkulova, a biologist with Pacific Salmon Foundation, is trying to determine if the phytoplankton bloom is negatively impacting salmon. “Noctiluca blooms can disrupt the overall balance of marine ecosystems as they ‘steal’ food from zooplankton,” she said. Under a microscope, the organisms "look like giant watermelons with pigtails and they wave those pigtails," said Esenkulova, who has a sample of the orange ocean water in her kitchen. When the water is cold, she can see the organisms trying to catch food.

Glace Bay fishing group calls on government to clean up contaminated lake

Glace Bay fishing group calls on government to clean up contaminated lake

A group in Glace Bay, N.S., says the water in a local lake is contaminated and is asking the provincial government to clean it up before stocking the pond with more trout. The No. 20 Dam Sport Fishing Association paid to have the water tested at the John Bernard Croak Memorial Park on Beacon Street in September and president Donald McNeil said the results show levels of E. coli and total coliform that exceed Health Canada guidelines.

Medicine Hat will test drinking water for asbestos fibres

Medicine Hat will test drinking water for asbestos fibres

The city says it’s taking action to address concerns about what may be in our water supply. An investigative piece by CTV’s W5 last month shed light on how fibres from aging asbestos-cement pipes could be entering municipal water supplies. In response to the piece, the city posted an information page about asbestos and why municipalities currently don’t test for it in the water.

Parks Canada monitoring for zebra mussels

Parks Canada monitoring for zebra mussels

Parks Canada says genetic traces of zebra mussels found in a recent water sample taken from Clear Lake aren’t cause for undue concern. Although tests for environmental DNA for the invasive species came back positive last month, it could have come to the lake on a boat, water toy or other source, without the transfer of any living mussels. Living organisms like zebra mussels, which originated from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine and were introduced to many countries worldwide in the 1980s, shed DNA all the time, says Borden Smid, resource conservation manager with Parks Canada.

Islanders with private wells reminded to get drinking water tested for manganese

Islanders with private wells reminded to get drinking water tested for manganese

Officials on P.E.I. are reminding Islanders with wells to get their drinking water tested regularly — including for manganese. The element is naturally occurring in the environment, and is typically found in swampy areas. Some studies have shown an association between high levels of manganese in drinking water and neurological effects in children, said Ryan Neale, manager of environmental health with the Chief Public Health Office.

What is the hose along Highway 35?

What is the hose along Highway 35?

Drivers had something new to observe on Highway 35, this past week, at the point informally known as Hopper’s Hill, featuring the Omineca Ski Club at the base. A long hose was unmistakably strung out along the long incline. It is at least six kilometres in length. It was a topic of watercooler chatter since it appeared. It was natural to surmise that it had something to do with the industrial activity not too far beyond the apex of the hill. That’s where the installation work is being done to build the natural gas pipeline through the area.

Jean-Doré beach reopens after bacteria contamination

Jean-Doré beach reopens after bacteria contamination

The beach on Île Notre-Dame in Jean-Drapeau Park has reopened after being closed since Wednesday because of an E. coli contamination. Testing had been under way over the past few days, with results from Thursday showing the water is now safe to swim in, Quebec's Environment Ministry shared late Friday afternoon. It's sure to be welcome news for anyone looking to head to the beach ahead of what's expected to be a hot weekend in the city.

Saskatchewan waste water teams consider testing for polio, monkeypox

Saskatchewan waste water teams consider testing for polio, monkeypox

Saskatchewan researchers scanning sewers for COVID-19 may soon be on the lookout for other viruses. Wastewater epidemiology teams in Saskatoon and Regina are considering searching for monkeypox and polio, two viruses that are on the rise in North America. “Basically, we’re trying to translate what we’ve done for the SARS-CoV-2 methodology and see how well it works for these other viruses,” said University of Regina biology professor Tzu-Chiao Chao. Wastewater testing looks for traces of viruses or other contaminants in sewage.

Penhorn Beach in Dartmouth closed to swimming due to bacteria

Penhorn Beach in Dartmouth closed to swimming due to bacteria

Penhorn Beach in Dartmouth, N.S., is closed to swimming until further notice due to high levels of bacteria in the water. Recent testing by city staff showed the bacteria levels exceed Health Canada swimming guidelines, according to a news release from the Halifax Regional Municipality on Friday. High bacteria levels can be caused by a number of factors, including dogs, birds, wildlife, and high temperatures.

COVID-19 in the wastewater: The sewer may hold key to rising cases and outbreaks, University of Guelph tests reveal

COVID-19 in the wastewater: The sewer may hold key to rising cases and outbreaks, University of Guelph tests reveal

When it comes to understanding where the COVID-19 virus might be turning up in high numbers, the answer could be in the water. Wastewater, to be exact. Testing wastewater, as well as monitoring social media, can give an idea of how prevalent the virus is in specific areas. While many parts of Canada are imposing restrictions on testing for the virus, Lawrence Goodridge, a professor of food microbiology at the University of Guelph, is learning how testing water from sewers and water treatment plants can be a valuable tool in tracing the virus.

Fraser Valley farmers won't know for weeks how floodwaters have affected prized soil

Fraser Valley farmers won't know for weeks how floodwaters have affected prized soil

Six days into the flood, Harman Kaur and her husband took a drive past their acreage and found thousands of their ruby-red blueberry bushes were still completely buried in the murky, brown floodwater. Leaking pesticides swirled around the field. Garbage and gas tanks floated past. The smell of fuel filled their noses. "There was a complete layer of oil on top [of the water], and we're talking what I could just see from the road," said Kaur, 29, whose family has owned their farm in the Arnold area of Abbotsford, B.C., for more than a decade.

Iqaluit residents asked to report fuel odour in drinking water

Iqaluit residents asked to report fuel odour in drinking water

The City of Iqaluit is investigating concerns from residents about reports of a fuel odour in drinking water. In a news release sent over the weekend, the city said it continues to investigate, test and monitor the drinking water daily. There has been no water quality advisory issued for now, and drinking water testing to date is satisfactory, the release says.

Month-long boil water advisory finally over in Port McNeill

Month-long boil water advisory finally over in Port McNeill

Port McNeill residents can finally drink their tap water again without having to boil it. The town has been under a strict boil water advisory since Aug. 11, when water test results came back showing trace amounts of E. coli were found in one of its samples during routine testing. According to medical officials, some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, urinary infections and even respiratory problems. After numerous weekly water tests throughout August, which continued to come back showing areas along Beach Drive were still producing trace amounts of E.coli and Total Coliforms, the boil water advisory continued on into September, when Island Health mandated for the town to complete a chlorine disinfection of the water distribution system.

2 years after legionnaires' outbreak in Moncton, cooling tower registry not in place

2 years after legionnaires' outbreak in Moncton, cooling tower registry not in place

Cooling towers use water evaporation to remove heat and release it into the atmosphere. If legionella bacteria is present in the water, it can be aerosolized and spread over several kilometres by the wind. Those who inhale water droplets with the bacteria may then contract the illness. It doesn't spread person-to-person. After the 2019 outbreak in Moncton where 16 contracted the severe form of pneumonia, the regional medical officer of health said he'd support more rules for building owners to try to prevent future outbreaks.

Citizen scientists sought for Lake Erie testing

Citizen scientists sought for Lake Erie testing

A group dedicated to protecting Canada’s freshwater is looking for citizen scientists to keep an eye on Lake Erie. The Canadian Freshwater Alliance is seeking 40 volunteers to become a Lake Erie Guardian who will test samples from the lake’s watershed. Testing will be done once a month from April to October with kits provided by Water Rangers, a non-profit group that records and analyzes water data. “Partnering with Water Rangers is new in terms of this initiative,” said Raj Gill, who oversees programs for the Great Lakes on behalf of the Alliance. “This is big growth for us.”

Pipeline spills about 400,000 litres, some enters North Saskatchewan River

Pipeline spills about 400,000 litres, some enters North Saskatchewan River

Contaminated water that leaked from an oilfield pipeline on Christmas Day has entered the North Saskatchewan River but has had no detectable impact on it, says a spokesman for Calgary-based oil and gas producer ARC Resources Ltd. The spill was reported by a local landowner at about 2 p.m. last Friday, said Sean Calder, ARC's vice-president of production, in an interview on Tuesday. "We had guys on site within about an hour and then the pipeline was shut in by 4 p.m., I believe," he said.

Children in schools and daycares across Canada are exposed to unsafe water

Children in schools and daycares across Canada are exposed to unsafe water

Many children in schools and daycares across Canada are likely being exposed to dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water and don’t know it, because most provinces aren’t requiring comprehensive testing at the taps, according to a collection of provincial studies and internal briefing material. The internal briefing material included memos and other advice prepared for high-ranking government officials in several provinces. These documents were released through freedom of information legislation to Global News as part of a joint year-long investigation into drinking water in partnership with Concordia University’s Institute for Investigative Journalism and other media organizations.

Ontario First Nation evacuates community over water safety, asks feds for help

Ontario First Nation evacuates community over water safety, asks feds for help

An abrupt downturn in an already poor water-quality situation in a northwestern Ontario Indigenous community poses more of a safety risk than the federal government is willing to acknowledge, representatives of the First Nation said Wednesday as they called for help covering the cost of evacuating the community. Most of the 250 residents of the Neskantaga First Nation, a member of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, flew out of the community on the weekend after untreated water began flowing from local taps and water pressure tapered off dramatically.

Follow us