REVISITING ELMIRA / ST. JACOB'S WATER

Back on March 6, 2014 I posted about the water coming up from Waterloo via pipeline to St.Jacobs and Elmira. Since then I've discovered new data. Firstly the majority of Waterloo water is produced by Well W7 in the Erb St. wellfield. Secondly the writeup of wells being off-line was very deceptive in the 2012 Annual Report. It turns out that well W6B was off-line for eleven months in 2012 and well W6A for two months namely November and December 2012. Then in 2013 well W6A was off-line for the whole year thus a consecutive fourteen months. Well W6B appears to have been pumping throughout 2013 after it's eleven month "rest" in 2012. To me this is shades of the "musical pumps" which occurs in Cambridge on a regular basis. Further to this "managing" of wells, particularily ones located near groundweater contamination, a M.O.E. representative was quoted in the March 27, 2014 Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) Minutes as stating that nearby municipalities do pump drinking water from contaminated aquifers although they keep a close eye on them. This is an absolutely breathtaking revelation and one that needs to be shared with all citizens. This is repugnant and disgraceful and all the more so when the Region of Waterloo advise their citizens of the top quality of their water.

The William St. wells have spectacularily high Sodium levels namely between 171 and 223 mg/litre. The M.O.E. are informed every five years of concentrations higher than 20 mg/l. Yes they are ten times higher! During 2013 on six occasions the William St wells were found to have chloramines above the drinking water standard of 3 mg/l (parts per million). Chloramines produce toxic by-products of disinfection including NDMA a known carcinogen. Nitrates are also high although not above the drinking water standards. Trichloroethylene is a constant in these wells although also below the drinking standards. Turbidity was O.K. in 2013 although it was too high in 2011 and 2012 in the raw water. High turbidity can prevent proper disinfection of bacteria and may be the cause for higher than needed chlorine and chloramine in the treated water. Well W3 has been off-line for several years without a proper explanation. Maybe it's being pumped to waste or maybe it's shutdown because it has even higher levels of trichloroethylene in it. We simply do not know. TCE is also a very potent carcinogen.

The point with these wells is that they have multiple contaminants albeit at allegedly low levels. The other point is that absolutely nobody anywhere can honestly tell you that this water is safe to drink. All drinking water standards are based upon the unrealistic assumption that only one contaminant at a time is in the water. The Region may or may not be operating illegally with these and other wells. I do not know but suspect the Ontario M.O.E. are hand in hand with their stickhandling. What I do know is that this water is not safe or healthy for you.