water splash.  (Photo courtesy of CK PUC website)water splash. (Photo courtesy of CK PUC website)
Midwestern

Saugeen Shores Water Treatment Has Numerous Non-Compliance Issues

Saugeen Shores council would like some answers after their water treatment system was found to have numerous non-compliance issues last year.

The 2016 water report issued by the Ontario Clean Water Agency shows seven notices of non-compliance with provincial regulations were issued for the Saugeen Shores system last year, the first time since 2007 that inspectors found issues with the system.

Councillor Neil Menage says many of issues are easily correctable, as there were several notices relating to improper keeping of logbooks and reading of test results.

He says the issue that stood out to him was on November 10 of last year when the chlorine levels at the MacGregor Park pumping station were found to be at zero-milligrams per-litre, later discovered to be the result of an employee closing a main valve due to a water leak.

Menage says it could have been a major issue.

"We lost control of chlorine to the public and in fact, there was no chlorine, so that is right along the lines of some of the other incidents you've heard about in recent years [Walkerton and Flint, Michigan]," says Menage. "If everything else had fallen into place, we could have had a major incident."

Another notice was issued when it was discovered that an employee's water treatment license had expired in June of 2015 and was later revoked, though the employee continued to work until August of 2016.

OCWA is also the contracted operator of the Saugeen Shores water treatment system and representatives have been asked to appear at a future council meeting to discuss their responses to the non-compliance issues.

Menage says he wants to see the 89% inspection rating climb to at least 98% this year.

In a news release, Mayor Mike Smith says “The Town works closely with Ontario Clean Water Agency and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to ensure our water supply is always safe.”

“At no point were there actual low levels of chlorine in the water supply," says Karen Lorente, regional manager for OCWA. "To reiterate, the low-level chlorine reading that triggered the alarm was due to complete lack of water flow through the pipe. There was no water in order to test the chlorine levels. This means that during the incident, there were no public health issues – the water was safe to drink.”

Ontario Clean Water Agency will be addressing the non-compliance issues mentioned in the 2016 Water Summary Report at the March 27 Saugeen Shores Council meeting.

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