CAMBRIDGE TURNBULL WELL SYSTEM & SOME KITCHENER WELLS

The Turnbull Well System is located on the east side of Cambridge and consists of wells G16, G17 and G18. Well G17 was offline for eighteen weeks in 2015. No reason was given. Microbiological testing (ie. bacteria) all look good. Turbidity and chlorine levels in the water are all very good. Sodium is at a very low 22.7 mg/l. Method Detection Limits are high for a dozen chemicals just like all the other Annual Reports in the Region. Also the testing is 2014 versus 2015.

The Greenbrook Well System is located by the intersection of Highland Rd. and Filsinger Dr. It consists of wells K1A, K2A, K4B, K5A and K8. All these wells were offline for 48 weeks in 2015 due to human error causing an explosion. A delivery person managed to either put chlorine in an ammonia storage container or vice versa. The results were loud and very damaging to the tune of $800,000. These wells were also shut down a few years back after 1,4-dioxane was discovered in the water, most likely courtesy of the Ottawa St. Landfill and probably courtesy of either Uniroyal Chemical or Varnicolor Chemical in Elmira.

The maximum Turbidity of the raw water in these wells is much too high which can lead to disinfection (bacteria) problems. That said the water is treated not only with chlorine but also via an advanced oxidation process (AOP) which seems to do the job.

The Parkway Well System consists of wells K31, K32 and K33. They are located on Manitou Drive. Turbidity (cloudiness) and chlorine levels are both good. Sodium is horrible at 201 mg/l although the reading is from 2013 which is outrageous. This is one of the highest readings in Waterloo Region and they can't even give us up to date test results. High sodium levels can be very bad for people with heart issues. Trichloroethylene is present in the drinking water albeit at low levels namely .7 parts per billion (ppb). While below the Ontario Drinking Water Standard (ODWS) it is still exactly .7 ppb too high. This is likely the leftover result of the former Deilcraft factory located nearby which has been remediated. Also Chloramines are more than half their health standard over most of the year. No one knows what the health effects are of multiple low level contaminants in our drinking water.

Wells K34 and k36 are in the south-west area of Kitchener. Other than chloramines exceeding half their health standard
the only other peculiarity would be the 2011 test result for sodium. It is reasonably low but 2011, really? The other test results appropriately are for 2015.