WILMOT TOWNSHIP- REGION OF WATERLOO ANNUAL REPORTS

The Wilmot Township System consists of a very large number of wells and smaller systems namely the Mannheim Wells K22A, K23, K24 and K26 as well as the Foxborough System, the New Dundee System, the New Hamburg/Baden System and the Shingletown wells K50 and K51. A number of these wells (Mannheim Village & Shingleton wells) were briefly mentioned as being part of the Mannheim Water Treatment Plant System (Kitchener System) as they are pumped into the Mannheim Pumping Station Reservoir. There is a map on page 4 of the 250 page Region of Waterloo Annual Reports which shows where these various systems and sub-systems are located.

Mannheim Village Well K22A was offline for all of 2019. Naturally of course the Region do not say why that was so in this report. Also of interest is that the sampling dates for all parameters is 2009. This indicates to me that this well has NOT been actively used for a very long time. The reason(s) should be here and are not.

Mannheim Village Well K23 was shutdown for 22 weeks in 2019 possibly as part of a $84,000 rehabilitation project. Raw and treated water, when sampled. had zero E.Coli or Total Coliforms which is very good however the HPC test had a maximum of 49 Coliform Units which is high. The maximum chlorine level was also high at 2.93 mg/l although it did keep just below the criteria of 3 mg/l. Sodium levels are high at 40.2 mg/l and Nitrates as well at a high of 4.71 mg/l which is below the criteria. Method Detection Limits (MDLs) just like all the other reports are far too high for numerous chemicals including Glyphosate.

Mannheim Village Well K24, when sampled, had zero E. Coli and Total Coliforms in both the raw and treated water. Oddly this well was shut down for six weeks in 2019 although no significant expenses for rehab, repair or replacement are listed. The sampling dates are all for 2018 which is both disappointing and in my opinion dangerous as problems that arise will take far too long to be addressed without more regular sampling. Sodium is high at 49.4 mg/l as are Nitrates with a maximum sampled value of 5.54 mg/l which exceeds half the criteria (10). MDLs are far too high in conjunction with the other reports.

Mannheim Village Well K26 looks very good in relation to bacteria. Chlorine levels are O.K however Sodium is a little high at 42.4 mg/l. While most of the chemical parameters were sampled in 2018 versus 2019 at least the very high Nitrate levels (highest I've seen to date in these reports) at a maximum level of 6.65 mg/l are sampled in 2019. These Nitrate levels are well in excess of "...half the standard prescribed in Schedule 2 of Ontario Drinking Water Standards.". MDLs as usual are much too high as well.

The Foxborough System consists of wells FG1, FG2A, and FG4. Bacteria results look very good and interestingly the Ontario Clean Water Agency (OCWA) operates the Distribution System on behalf of the private owner of this system. My guess is that this is a subdivision perhaps similar to the West Montrose subdivision in which the private developer several decades ago installed private wells and water treatment system. Sodium is a little high at 35.3 mg/l and Nitrates and Nitrites however are excellent. Most of the chemical results are from the last sampling in 2018 which is disappointing. Lead (and asbestos) results are not available although lead appears to have been tested for by OCWA. Similarily HAAs and THMs were tested for by OCWA but no results are shown here as they should be. MDLs are equally bad with all the other Region of Waterloo Annual Reports.

The rest of this System (Wilmot) will likely be discussed here tomorrow.