Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

water quality data

Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI)

Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI)

The Freshwater Quality Indicator (WQI) provides an overall measure of the ability of freshwater bodies to support aquatic life at selected monitoring stations across Canada. It is a water quality guideline-driven tool used to distill large amounts of water quality data at a monitoring station into a single index. Water quality at a monitoring station is considered excellent when ambient water quality does not exceed guidelines at any time for any of all selected parameters. When water quality is rated poor, water quality measurements usually exceed their guideline; exceedences at these stations may be large.

High levels of bacteria in Lake Ontario closes 3 Toronto beaches

High levels of bacteria in Lake Ontario closes 3 Toronto beaches

Three Toronto beaches have been deemed unsafe to swim due to high levels of bacteria in Lake Ontario on Friday. E.coli levels at Marie Curtis Park East in Mississauga, Sunnyside Beach in downtown Toronto, and Kew Balmy Beach in the Beaches have been labelled as “unsafe to swim” by the City of Toronto ahead of the weekend. E. coli are a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. The levels are predicted to be above 100 E.coli per 100ml of water, which may pose a risk to human health, according to the city’s water quality data.

Rising levels of chloride, aluminum in Halifax lakes a concern, study says

Rising levels of chloride, aluminum in Halifax lakes a concern, study says

Levels of chloride, arsenic and aluminum in some Halifax lakes are a concern, according to a newly published Dalhousie University study. The peer-reviewed study examined four decades of water quality data from 50 lakes. It says that concentrations of aluminum in 29 per cent of the lakes, chloride in 20 per cent of the lakes and arsenic in one lake exceeded Canadian aquatic life protection guidelines.

A new era for tracking the health of the Great Lakes

A new era for tracking the health of the Great Lakes

If you've ever wondered about the health of your local river or lake, seven million open data points are now at your fingertips. Information ranging from lake temperatures to levels of nitrates in the water is available on Great Lakes DataStream, a new online platform for sharing water quality data from across Ontario and Quebec. It's going live during international Open Access Week, a global celebration of the power of open data – information that is free to look at and reuse – that runs until October 31.

West Saint John group asks integrity commissioner to force release of water information

West Saint John group asks integrity commissioner to force release of water information

A group of residents in west Saint John is calling on the province's integrity commissioner to order the city and the Department of Environment to immediately release documents related to their new water source as many continue to deal with hard water, leaking pipes and costly repairs.

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