High arsenic levels found in Virden water
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The drinking water advisory in the Town of Virden has been extended after high arsenic levels were confirmed in test results.
The town’s aquifer was found to have roughly 0.25 milligrams of arsenic per litre of water — well above the Canadian drinking water safety guideline limit of 0.10.
In light of these findings, the medical officer for Manitoba Health continued the drinking water advisory on Dec. 19.
Bottled water is recommended as an alternative for drinking and preparing food and beverages in the town of roughly 3,000 people, but residents are advised that they can continue to use town water for general use.
“If this is your primary drinking water source, you may wish to reduce the amount of water that you consume,” reads the advisory. “Since exposure is mainly through consuming the water, you can continue to use the water for all other domestic purposes including general cleaning, hand washing, bathing, laundry, washing dishes.”
Over long periods of time, consuming drinking water with high arsenic levels can slightly increase cancer risk. The safety guideline is based on a lifetime exposure of 70 years, the advisory says.
A notice will be sent out when arsenic levels are within safety limits, and the advisory will be lifted. There is no timeline yet for when that day is expected, according to the public notice posted on the town’s website.
A precautionary advisory was issued on Oct. 17. The town discovered this fall that it needed to quickly find a new water source due to seriously low water levels; it connected back to an aquifer previously used in order to address the need.
The aquifer was expected to have high arsenic levels, but was the best option available at the time, Virden Mayor Tina Williams previously told the Sun. Testing was conducted this fall to get an updated reading on arsenic levels.
Williams could not be reached for a comment on Tuesday. In October, she said she did not yet know how the town had been caught off guard by low water levels and would look for that answer once the pressing issue of water supply is resolved.
Williams also said that the town would be looking for new water sources that could replace the aquifer that has high arsenic levels.
The Office of Drinking Water said in the advisory it will continue to work with Virden as the town investigates solutions to lower arsenic levels in the treated water.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com