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.
Hundreds of Vancouver residents have violated water restrictions, despite a conservation warning from the B.C. government as drought conditions intensify. Since water restrictions came into effect May 1, Vancouver has issued 287 $250 fines for breaking water restriction laws for a total of $71,750, according to city staff Saturday. On top of that the city has issued 395 warnings or letters to residents to advise them of unnecessary water usage.
The Aqua Water Bar by Luqel harvests its water the old-fashioned way — from the faucet. The government says tap water is safe to drink and meets international standards, though many Dubai residents prefer bottled water. Then they use a micro-dosing system designed by the German water filtration company Luqel to inject minerals. They offer to match the mineralization of high-end water brands, catering to all types of water fans, Alpine or Arctic-sourced. “Our water sommeliers have designed the drinks to suit your needs and mood,” says Roia Jabari, the managing director. “We can give you the perfectly mineralized recipe.” “Runners Heaven,” which is high in sodium and potassium, is designed for joggers recovering from the scorching desert heat. “Vegan’s Choice” offers minerals that could be lacking in a strictly herbivorous diet. Customers can fill up their bottles with any of the mineral blends for around 50 cents per 500 milliliters (16 fluid ounces) or pay more for mocktails.
The mayor of Fundy Albert says the community of Alma, N.B., is asking for some public washrooms to close in an effort to conserve water. Alma, near Fundy National Park, fills with tourists when the summer months arrive. That often leads to a request to conserve water. "Surprisingly, the use of washrooms is what is significantly contributing to the amount of water that is being used in Alma," Robert Rochon said.
The boil water advisory for Hillsburgh was lifted on Saturday. The Ministry of Health issued the notice Wednesday, warning residents and businesses to stop using the drinking water system immediately. According to Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, three water samples were collected on July 12 and July 13. They were tested for total coliform and E. coli bacteria. The health inspector now says “the test results indicate the water is bacteriologically safe to drink.” As such, the boil water advisory was removed.
The effort to replace the nearly century-old Hensall water tower is moving ahead, though the project is coming with a higher price tag than originally anticipated. Councillors with the Municipality of Bluewater in Huron County this week awarded the project contract to Landmark Municipal Services and increased the budget to more than $6.4 million – roughly $1 million more than initially expected to replace the 88-year-old tower.
Three Toronto beaches have been deemed unsafe to swim due to high levels of bacteria in Lake Ontario on Friday. E.coli levels at Marie Curtis Park East in Mississauga, Sunnyside Beach in downtown Toronto, and Kew Balmy Beach in the Beaches have been labelled as “unsafe to swim” by the City of Toronto ahead of the weekend. E. coli are a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. The levels are predicted to be above 100 E.coli per 100ml of water, which may pose a risk to human health, according to the city’s water quality data.
Some of the world’s biggest mining companies are working with South Africa’s government on a 27 billion rand ($1.5 billion) water project to supply major platinum and chrome operations and several hundred thousand people with drinking water. Glencore Plc and Anglo American Platinum Ltd. are among the companies attempting to secure half of that amount in financing by the end of the year with the rest of the funds to be sourced by municipalities and the government.
The crisis at Thames Water Ltd. has left the $60 billion market for UK water utility bonds deeply divided. A measure of the dispersion in spreads in the sector has surged over the past few weeks as investors try to separate companies they see as well run, with manageable debt loads, from those that face the most operational and balance sheet issues. The standard deviation almost tripled after reports of a possible temporary nationalization of Thames Water, before settling at around double typical levels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
A lack of communication between a private water testing firm for Wellington on the Lake and Prince Edward County has caused confusion for residents of a Wellington housing development. Thursday afternoon the county issued a warning that someone was going door to door telling people in the Wellington on the Lake housing development that a boil water advisory was in effect and the county issued a press release saying the advisory was a scam. However, Thursday evening before 9 o’clock, the county issued another release saying that a boil water advisory was in fact in effect. Wellington on the Lake is a separate drinking water system that receives water from the Wellington Drinking Water System.
As the province’s drought reaches historical levels, British Columbians are being urged to do their part to conserve water. The minister of emergency management and climate readiness, Bowinn Ma, has called on residents, farmers, businesspeople and industrial plant operators to take urgent steps to cut water use. She highlighted a report from B.C.’s River Forecast Centre that said the combination of record heat in May followed by early snow melt and persistently low levels of rain have created severe drought.
In the southeast, temperatures of 43 C and higher are forecast across the region with “unusually warm water” in the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean fuelling “persistent, oppressive humidity” along the coast. In Florida, the record surface water temperatures offshore are fuelling concerns about a busier-than-expected hurricane season, since warm, humid air is a key component in how the storms form and grow.
The city says it wants to create more green spaces that can act as sponges, so water gets absorbed into the ground rather than drained into sewers during rain deluges. Firefighters were deployed to help pump water out of buildings. Sabourin said the city typically gets 90 millimetres of rain in July — meaning Montreal received almost as much rain it usually sees in July in the span of two hours. The city's sewers simply don't have the capacity to hold that much water, he said, explaining the floods. The area south of the downtown core was most affected.
At Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, giant blue pipes have been constructed to bring in torrents of seawater to dilute treated, radioactive water under a plan to discharge it gradually into the Pacific Ocean. Workers were making final preparations as Associated Press journalists received a rare opportunity Friday to get a look at key equipment and facilities for the release, expected in coming weeks or months.
Despite recent rainfall over Calgary, conditions are still drier than usual, leading to concerns over low water flows in the region. "The flows in both the Bow and Elbow Rivers continue to be well below normal for this time of year due to the low snowpacks and early snowmelt in the Bow and Elbow River Basins, as well as ongoing dry conditions," the City of Calgary said in a statement Friday. "Reservoirs upstream of Calgary are currently filling and the Glenmore Reservoir is being held at full supply level to proactively manage water supply in anticipation of a hot, dry summer."
The recent decision to reactivate several Vancouver-owned fountains that use millions of litres of drinking water annually is being scrutinized as B.C. officials sound the alarm about worsening drought conditions across the province. The five fountains are not capable of recirculating water, meaning that water is pumped in, used once and flushed into the sewer – something Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby considers wasteful.
This stream helps build greener communities by contributing to climate change preparedness, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and promoting cleaner air, water, and ecosystems. Infrastructure Canada helps address complex challenges that Canadians face every day—ranging from the rapid growth of our cities, to climate change, and environmental threats to our water and land.
Seasonal water restrictions are in place until Sept. 30 in Charlottetown. The mandatory restrictions allow for outdoor watering only in the early morning from 5-10 a.m. or in the evening between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m., to a maximum of two hours per day. Hosing off driveways and other hard surfaces is also prohibited while the restrictions are in effect. Restrictions are required to ensure usage does not exceed the city’s capacity to supply water.
Private well users in Newfoundland and Labrador are being encouraged to test the quality of their well water for free. The province said over 2,000 well water chemistry kits are still available for pick up through Digital Government and Service N.L. regional offices to provide well owners with detailed information on the chemical levels in their drinking water.
The state Court of Appeals on Monday found that members of the Swartzentruber Amish community in southeastern Minnesota don’t need to install septic systems to dispose of “gray water,” which is dirty water left from dishwashing, laundry, bathing, and other tasks not involving toilet waste. Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed court rulings that had required the group to install septic tanks.
