REGION OF WATERLOO'S DIRTY TAP WATER SECRETS

 

For many years I faithfully waited each spring (March) for the Region of Waterloo to release their Annual Water Report. It did take several years of careful observation, monitoring and research before I felt even reasonably confident that I had a fair understanding of the good, the bad and the ugly within those reports. Some of the negatives were glaring such as the far too few industrial chemicals being monitored including up until recently the infamous NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) made known by Uniroyal Chemical in Elmira. Then there were the far too many wells in Waterloo Region impacted by a notorious industrial cleaner namely trichloroethylene (TCE). There were also far too many wells with incredibly high Sodium (i.e. sodium chloride or salt) levels and as well our landscape and agricultural neighbours have also blessed us with too many Nitrates and Nitrites . Sodium as well as Nitrites are not healthy for individuals with heart problems etc.

I let my vigilance down over the last couple of years and just decided this morning that a look see was a good idea. Well! The bad news is very bad and the good news so far is non-existent. That said I have not completed my foray through the Region's gilded lily Water Report for 2025.  Some of these reports can be found on the Region's website under Water and Wastewater. Likely most of their Annual Water Reports follow provincial guidelines for them however that isn't necessarily saying much. I strongly suspect that there was lots of "collaboration" and "consultation" between municipal and regional water managers prior to the province setting out the rules for these reports. The lack of NDMA testing of wells located within urban areas for decades after the Elmira Water Crisis (1989) is a prime example of a major loophole.

Here are my first two surprises in the Region of Waterloo 2025 Annual Water Report. The Region have been drilling new wells over the last few years almost as if they expected our current water quantity issues and they have been shutting down some notoriously polluted wells. Also the Strange St. Wellfield (Kitchener) appears to have seriously deteriorated in water quality with a large number of detections of trichloroethylene (TCE) . Now this wasn't exactly a shocker as that wellfield has had industrial chemical detections over many years. Also it is possible that the Region may have outsmarted themselves by blending/diluting mildly contaminated water with what they thought was less contaminated water that maybe really wasn't.

The shut down wellfield that jumped at me was the lack of appearance of the William St. Wellfield located at the corner of Regina St. and William St. in Waterloo. Now this wellfield has had trichloroethylene (TCE) in it for many decades and yet was a staple water source for many, many decades. Did the TCE levels rise with increased pumping perhaps? TCE is a DNAPL chemical which can reside in the subsurface slowly dissolving into groundwater over decades and even centuries.

These reports need improvements making them easier to read for laypersons who have not spent decades studying our water supply and groundwater contamination.