Wheat City water fails THM test, again
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/03/2016 (3635 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
There was a feeling of déjà vu at this week’s city council meeting when the annual Public Water Supply report was presented.
Once again, Brandon’s drinking water met all provincial standards with the exception of one: trihalomethane levels.
“I feel that it’s very good water, and it’s safe; however, we want to strive to make it better,” said Brad McIntosh, manager of Brandon’s water treatment facility. “The THMs was an emerging issue and now it’s out there, and we have to recognize that this has to be dealt with, but we also have to recognize that it takes time and money to deal with it properly.”
THMs are a byproduct that can form when chlorine is added to water with organic matter. It’s an issue the city has struggled with since at least 2008, when a benchmark was introduced.
The standard for THMs is to be less than or equal to 0.10 milligrams per litre. According to the Public Water Supply report, samples show Brandon levels ranging from 0.05 mg per litre to 0.18 mg.
A major upgrade to the water treatment facility is needed to meet the regulatory requirement. As previously reported in The Brandon Sun, a water treatment master plan was completed to overhaul and refurbish the existing facility. An application was submitted to the New Building Canada Fund last year, in hopes of tri-level funding for the major project, estimated to cost $60 million.
The higher levels of THMs is an issue not only in Brandon, but for any water treatment plant that uses a natural water source, such as the Assiniboine River.
Chlorine is the most common disinfectant added to drinking water, as it is very effective. It can react to organic matter — such as decaying plants and algae — in the water source which forms THMs and ends up in the distribution system.
According to a fact sheet prepared by Manitoba Water Stewardship and Manitoba Health, there is not enough evidence to indicate that THMs cause cancer in people, but cancers have been detected in some studies in which mice and rats were exposed to high doses.
As a precautionary measure, drinking water guidelines are set to ensure a very low level of potential health risk over a typical lifetime of exposure (about 70 years). Short-term use of drinking water that exceeds the guidelines is unlikely to have an impact on human health.
The Public Water Supply report showed that Brandon’s drinking water met all other water quality standards, including levels for lead, fluoride and arsenic, among others.
» jaustin@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @jillianaustin