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 first project supports wastewater treatment and collection system upgrades in the County of Kings. A wastewater treatment facility will be improved to increase capacity and accommodate future growth. Four lift stations will be replaced, and another new lift station will be built. The project includes a 1.35-km gravity sewer infrastructure extension. The purpose is to increase the overall efficiency of the system and support new, higher density housing development.
Seven Seas Water Group, a multi-national provider of Water-as-a-Service® (“WaaS”) solutions, today announced the addition of Nadine Leslie to its Board of Directors, effective April 25, 2022. “Coupled with her background, Nadine’s executive leadership style and personality will be instrumental in helping guide and support management through our next growth phase.”
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, said she has seen contractors save on costs when building water treatment plants on reserves by using obsolete parts and failing to include maintenance manuals, ventilation or chemical rooms, and bathrooms. “Engineering companies will put in their bids obviously as low as they can go,” said Zagozewski.
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
