Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
The City of Yellowknife hosted an open house Wednesday to provide updates on its $34.4 million project to replace the 53-year-old pipeline that supplies residents with drinking water. The new pipeline is scheduled to be in place by winter of 2026. It will continue to draw water from the Yellowknife River, as is the current system, but the city will have to pull water from Yellowknife Bay during construction beginning in 2024 for a period that could last up to 12 months.
Water services in Wahta Mohawk Territory have seen a lot of improvements recently. With input from the Wahta Mohawks Chief and the director of public works, Wahta Mohawks communications officer Sean Molnar provided information about the community’s water services. Wahta’s water systems include water wells and treatment systems. There are two types of water systems: those owned and managed by Wahta — located in buildings like the Administration Building, Cultural Healing Centre, Nursing Station, Public Works Shop, ICG Building, and rental units — and those owned and managed by private homeowners and businesses.
Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s vast far northern territory of Nunavut, lifted a city-wide boil water advisory March 4 that had been in place since the beginning of the month. In an earlier news release, authorities stated, “The City recommends that all water used for consumption and dental hygiene is brought to a rolling boil for a minimum of one full minute.”
Twenty million litres of water is filtered at Corner Brook's treatment plant every day — above average for the community's size, say city staff, who are urging residents to conserve. Don Burden, the City of Corner Brook's director of public works, would like it if people ran their taps less often. "Lets keep consumption to the absolute minimum," Burden said in an interview with CBC News. Burden said the average resident of Corner Brook, which has a population of about 23,000 people, consumes more water than an average resident of Newfoundland and Labrador. "Let's keep the watering of lawns to a minimum," he said. "Let's keep a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the tap to get cold water. Run your washer full instead of half-loads. Try not wash your car more than once a week. Try and not wash down your driveway more than once a week. Every little bit helps."
“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”
The brown water flowing from the taps in the Murrayville neighbourhood of Langley Township has some of the residents worried for their health and safety. Photos posted to the community Facebook page show drinking glasses, a sink and a hot tub full of foul-looking water. "None of us trust it and no one in their right mind would want to drink water that looks like that," said Krystal Woodward in a message to CBC News.
