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.
Japan said on Tuesday it will start releasing radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant on Aug. 24, putting into motion a plan that has drawn strong criticism from China. The plan, approved two years ago by the Japanese government as crucial to decommissioning the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), has also faced criticism from local fishing groups, who fear reputational damage and a threat to their livelihood.
New research being spearheaded out of P.E.I. is helping Island farmers make better decisions around when to irrigate their crops — and some say it could not come at a better time. Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have been working on a formula to calculate when to irrigate and how much water to use. The result is a new, online irrigation calculator that's accessible to farmers.
The Bolduc family has been farming and ranching near Stavely, Alta., for generations and this year will be remembered for its scorching heat, lack of rain, parched fields, reduced yields and water restrictions. It's something their family and many others have seen before, but it doesn't make it any easier as they look to harvest whatever they can from their barley, alfalfa and corn fields.
For a while, every time Caetano Dorea's kids took a bath, he used a bilge pump to save the water and pour it on his plants outside. As a University of Victoria engineering professor specializing in wastewater treatment, Dorea knows more than the average person about how much water the average household uses in Canada.
They pulled 15 tires, 13 shopping carts and five bikes out of Winnipeg's Seine River. That was just some of the trash a team from an environmental non-profit removed from the river as part of their annual summer cleanup. There was also a suitcase so heavy and full of water it tipped their canoe, three knives and children's toys. Plus, oil drums, a rollerblade, and an old projector.
As the city of Montreal looks for solutions for its aging, leaky water infrastructure, Mayor Valérie Plante has made it clear that residential water meters are not an option. In theory, meters could be used to charge each household for consumption, thus encouraging people to use less and reduce the strain on a system that is essentially hemorrhaging drinking water.
Unquestionably, dumping more than 300 million litres of sewage-tinged water into the Ottawa River stinks. But it’s hard to imagine what that much sewage overflow actually does to a waterway. So, we asked the experts about the impact of the city’s decision to release that volume of water following the massive Aug. 10 storm—and what can be done to prevent this in the future.
Cleanup crews are trying to determine how much runoff from an industrial fire in Etobicoke a week ago has made its way into Lake Ontario, the province's environment ministry says. The ministry has said the runoff is affecting two waterways, Mimico Creek and Humber Creek, and containment measures have been in place since August 11 in both creeks. On Friday, it said while measures along Mimico Creek were reinforced Wednesday, Thursday's rain night enabled the spill to move further down Mimico Creek.
A man has died after he fell at the Ashbridges Bay Water Treatment Plant in Leslieville this morning.
Reports indicate the man fell about 100 feet or several storeys. Emergency crews attended the scene around 11:30 a.m. and pronounced the man dead. Police labelled the incident an industrial accident.
About 90% of water samples taken over the last 10 years from the Great Lakes contain microplastic levels that are unsafe for wildlife, a new peer-reviewed paper from the University of Toronto finds. About 20% of those samples are at the highest level of risk, but the study’s authors say the damage can be reversed if the US and Canada quickly act. “Ninety per cent is a lot,” said Eden Hataley, a University of Toronto researcher and study co-author. “We need to answer some basic questions by monitoring … so we can quantify risks to wildlife and humans.”
From great white sharks around Quebec's Îles-de-la-Madeleine to lobsters conquering new territory, oceanographers say the warming of the Gulf of St. Lawrence is having an impact on the creatures that live in its unique ecosystem. Data from Fisheries and Oceans Canada show that deepwater temperatures have been increasing overall in the gulf since 2009. In 2022, gulf-wide average temperatures hit new record highs at depths of 150 to 300 metres, and passed the threshold of 7 C at 300 metres for the first time. Average monthly temperatures at the sea surface also set new records in August and September, the data showed.
Researchers at the University of B.C. have discovered a way to filter microplastics out of water using biodegradable forest byproducts such as bark and wood dust. Scientists at UBC’s BioProducts Institute found that if they added tannins—natural plant compounds found in unripe fruit and a popular additive in wine—to a layer of wood dust, they could filter out nearly all microplastic particles from water.
Halifax Water says it has diverted untreated and unscreened sewage from entering the Northwest Arm, but it's still advising people to not swim or participate in activities that require contact with the water. In an update after 6 p.m., the water utility said the water is now being treated but that repair work is still underway.
The British Columbia government has changed its tune on a long-requested investigation into contamination from mines flowing into U.S. waters, opening the door to progress on an issue that has drawn the attention of President Joe Biden. The province has confirmed to The Canadian Press that it would now welcome a role in such an investigation for the International Joint Commission, a body created in 1909 to resolve water-related disputes between the two countries.
Some people are frustrated that a now months-long non-consumption advisory has yet to be lifted at the natural water spring in Wakefield, Que. Kristine Schwartz, a resident in Low, Que., has relied heavily on the water source since her township — about 20 kilometres from Wakefield — has faced boil water advisories on and off for the last two years.
When Ottawa was hit by more than 75 millimetres of rain last week it filled a $232 million sewage tunnel, sending nearly 316 million litres of raw sewage into the Ottawa River. Unfortunately, it's not unexpected or unusual. "It was always known that if there were very large storms the city would be faced with a choice of either flooding sewage into people's basements or into the river," explained Dianne Saxe, a former environmental commissioner and the last person to hold that provincial post.
Ten of the largest upcoming water treatment construction projects: New South Niagara Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia - Mill Transformation Project, Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) - River Road WPCF Upgrades, Whitby Water Supply Plant Expansion Project - Contract 4 - Plant Expansion, Northeast Vaughan Wastewater Servicing Project, Longueuil Drinking Water Production Plant Reconstructuion, Biosolids Construction - Kelowna BC
Calgarians’ outdoor water use is being limited to two hours per week as the city faces continued drought conditions, officials announced Tuesday. It’s the first time the city has imposed such restrictions due to dry conditions, with water flows in the Bow River at their lowest level since 1911 and the Elbow River since 2000, said Nicole Newton, the city’s manager of natural environment and adaptation.
Kamloops is implementing stricter water use regulations amid worsening drought conditions in the Thompson River, a situation one conservationist says is putting salmon habitat at risk. The new water conservation measures the municipality in B.C.'s Interior is putting in place include a ban on water sprinklers for lawn irrigation. However, watering is still permitted with handheld spring-loaded nozzles.
