SOME OF THE CHEMICAL ENHANCEMENTS IN OUR WATERLOO REGION GROUNDWATER

TCE is very popular.  Trichloroethylene  can be fatal as a number of persons in the Bishop St. community of Cambridge have learned the hard way. Usually however it leads to years of sickness and ill health first. Dinoseb is some sort of pesticide that we were advised caused the contamination in the northern part of Cambridge. Plasticizers and phthalates have been found in the Grand River and the groundwater at the south end of Cambridge. TCE is also in the same groundwater right beside the Grand River. 1,1,2 Trichloroethane has been found in the groundwater between Bishop St. and the Grand River also throughout the Bishop St. community.

Waterloo has been blessed with TCE in their groundwater and the major wellfield near the downtown. Obviously with coal tar constituents nearby it's difficult to believe that some of them (PAHs?) haven't also been dissolved and mobilized into the wellfield. The same goes for the coal tar found on Gaukel St. in Kitchener by the very old post office. 

Speaking of Kitchener we have TCE in a number of wellfields. It is combined with some other VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that freshened the air inside a former local tire factory. Many workers paid the price for working there. More exotics include P.C.B.s which are better known as floaters on the water table i.e. LNAPLS or light non aqueous phase liquids. Nevertheless they have a small solubility in order to add spice to the groundwater's flavour. Chlorinated solvents as well as oil and gas PHCs (petroleum hydrocarbons) also add to the groundwater mixture between Fountain St. and the Grand River near Breslau.

Elmira literally has dozens to hundreds of chemicals in their groundwater although our authorities have only focused on NDMA, chlorobenzene and ammonia. Lots more PHCs in Elmira as well as Heidelberg. Probably low levels of DDT and Dioxins are also dissolved in the groundwater here.

This is but a sprinkling of the variety available in our groundwater. Let's not forget Glyphosate (Round Up), salt and Nitrates. Lots for everybody