MORE CONTAMINATED SOURCE WATER IN ONTARIO (GUELPH)

Well I guess this is neither surprising nor reassurring. Waterloo Region authorities are not the only ones playing fast and loose with drinking water. I had vaguely known of a possible plume emanating from the Eastview landfill but that was about it. This weekend I got further into the Grand River Source Protection Area reports that are on-line. There appears to be multiple copies such as "Proposed Amended Assessment Report", Draft Amended Assessment Report" and "Final Amended Assessment Report". Regardless Guelph has serious issues with nitrates and trichloroethylene in some wells. The interesting thing is the willingness of all supposedly responsible parties to keep this water in the supply system. Also interesting is how they do it.

"The Carter Wells (east side of Guelph) contain Nitrates at concentrations that frequently exceed the ODWQS of 10 mg/lfor Nitrate.". "The water from the wells is blended with water from the Arkell Spring Grounds to reduce the Nitrate concentrations to below the ODWQS.". Therefore unsafe raw water is O.K. provided you dilute it first according to those folks.

"The water quality for the Emma Well (N-W Guelph) has shown an increasing trend for TCE (trichloroethylene) since 1997." Recent water quality has been as high as 3.4 ug/l for TCE.'. The drinking water standard for TCE is 5 ug/l. TCE is highly toxic with multiple health issues.

The Membro Well is in the south-central area of Guelph. "Since 2002, the City has taken steps to slow the increasing TCE concentration trend in the well. In 2004, the City installed a liner in the well to limit the production from the well to depths of about 40 m below surface." Also "...the City has slowed the increasing trend by reducing the pumping rate of the well." Don't these operational fixes just give you a warm, fuzzy feeling about your drinking water?

The Smallfield Well is at the extreme western edge of Guelph. It was removed from service in 1994 due to TCE concentrations as high as 45 ug/l. However at the time that was O.K. because the drinking water standard was then 50 ug/l versus the current 5 ug/l. "In 2008, the City initiated a project to return the Smallfield Well to service." "The well was pumped (in conjunction with the (nearby) Sacco Well) for a period of 13 days..". Despite this attempt to dilute this toxic chemical they still had readings of 20 ug/l. Also they were aware of nearby groundwater readings of TCE as high as 50,000 ug/l. Therefore at this time this well is not being brought back into service. My question is with this well shut down since 1994 didn't anybody have the bright idea of remediating the source? Rather than letting it slowly dissolve and move downgradient why didn't the City or the M.O.E do a cleanup? Unbelievable!

So once again we see our municipal and provincial authorities more than willing to lie to us and give us poisoned drinking water. Nice of them to tell us that it is becoming routine to "manage" toxic water. This "management" can consist of dilution/blending, reduced pumping, steel liners in wells and whatever other bandaids they come up with. This folks is why over 40% of Canadians are experiencing cancers and other health issues.