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.
A heavy rainstorm is expected to hit the Fraser Valley, bringing 50 to 70 millimetres of rain, according to a warning from Environment Canada. Meteorologists call this type of rain pattern an “atmospheric river.” It’s caused by narrow regions in the atmosphere transporting water vapor outside the tropics. Once the vapor hits land, it releases in the form of rain or snow.
With droughts plaguing much of the western United States and millions of people across the globe living without access to safe water, the need for technologies that produce clean water is greater than ever. The key, according to Evelyn Wang, the Gail E. Kendall Professor and department head for MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, is in the very air we breathe.
