HESPELER WELLS PLUS A PRESTON WELL

To date I would suggest that there have not been too many surprises in the Region of Waterloo's Annual (drinking water) Reports. Wells with checkered pasts and a long history of issues continue to be so. The inherent problems in these Reports along with their standard operating procedures which hide problems have not been fixed. This includes multiple Delegations to Woolwich Council who have publicly stated that they would lobby both the Ministry of Environment and the Region for improvements in their reporting systems. To date I've had no positive responses from anyone.

Well H3 (H for Hespeler) we are advised had "No adverse results for the 2015 reporting period". Further regarding maintenance issues and monetary expenses we are advised that "Not applicable; no significant expenses incurred". Then we are advised that "Well H3 was offline for 51 weeks in 2015". What the hell?

The good news is that the microbiological testing done was all excellent with zero Total Coliform and zero E.Coli. Also Turbidity and Chlorine results were within specifications. Yes Sodium results were high at 104 mg/l and finally all the test results were taken in 2015. Taken on literally a handful of samples only. Absolutely no hint as to why this well was essentially shut down for the year.

Well H4 is another of the wells which fairly recently has been updgraded? with an additional well namely H4A. There of course is no explanation why or how. Well H4 was shut down for the entire year while H4A did all the pumping. From an on-line article I read a couple of years ago regarding Cambridge bedrock wells it is possible that well H4 had a sleeve added to allow pumping from a different layer of bedrock. Or alternatively it could literally be a separate drilled well beside H4 again with the well screen at a different depth in a less contaminated zone. H4A appears to have no microbiological or chemical issues. Even Sodium is considerably lower at 34.7 mg/l. My only concern is that all these test results for a well pumping the entire year (2015) are from 2014. Bizarre when well H3 which only ran for a week in 2015 was fully tested in 2015.

Hespeler well H5 ran the entire year and seems to be without issues. Even sodium is incredibly low at 17 mg/l. Keep in mind that results higher than 20 mg/l are reported to the health Department and M.O.E. every five years. Some residents do have Sodium restrictions in their diets due to heart problems. My biggest complaint would be that the chemical tests are from 2014 and the Sodium test from 2013. Also of course as with all these Annual Reports there are far too many Method Detection Limits (MDLs) that are far too high and could be masking the presence of industrial chemicals and or pesticides.

Well P6 is in Preston south of Bishop St. and the former Northstar Aerospace factory. All the test results are from 2011 and we are advised that the "System was off for all of 2015". What we are not advised in this report is that this system has been shutdown in its' entirety for the last four years ie. 2012-2015. What we are also not advised is that every other well in Cambridge is tested for Trichloroethylene (TCE) only once a year with the notable exception of the Middleton Wellfield (monthly). What the Region also fails to inform us the citizens is that well P6 was tested for TCE multiple times in 2010 and 2011. You'd almost think that they were expecting to get TCE hits just like they do at the Middleton Wellfield in Cambridge and the William St. Wellfield in Waterloo.

Finally not a whisper that the upgradient soil and groundwater is permeated with TCE courtesy of Northstar Aerospace and one of their neighbours. Yes pump and treat as well as In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) have been undertaken but unfortunately TCE is a DNAPL chemical and with or without more aggressive action this groundwater and nearby P6 may be toast forever. What right does the Region of Waterloo have to deny this information to the public? At what point in time did our governments become spin doctors and public relations consultants for industry?