Caledon village passes water tests
By Mandi Hargrave Orangeville Citizen

Nearly half of the 36 Ontario municipalities recently tested for drinking water quality failed after elevated levels of lead were found.

However, the 20 samples taken from Caledon village showed zero signs of contamination.

In Caledon, all samples came in at or below the provincial standard, which is 10 ug/L, in both the tap and hydrant test samples. Other nearby municipalities didn't fare quite as well. In Guelph, just 17 of 20 tap samples came in at or under the requirements, although all tests at hydrants came in on target.

The cities among the worst results were areas with a lot of older homes. Those include Hamilton, Renfrew, Thunder Bay, Smith Falls and Quinte West.

The executive director of the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association, Frank Zechner, says a lot more municipalities would have failed if the tests had of been taken under "real life" conditions. Instead, he says, the tests were taken after taps had been running for five minutes twice per hour.

"Most homeowners do not run their taps that frequently or for that long," he says. "Even under these unrealistic conditions, the lead concentration in some cities such as Hamilton, St. Catharines and Guelph increased by anywhere from 20 to 5,000 per cent. If the water was allowed to stand in those pipes for several hours instead of 30 minutes, the number of failures would have been much higher."

The province-wide tests were ordered after elevated levels of lead were discovered in London. A government appointed panel of water experts, the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council, made a number of recommendations to be put in place after the water quality tests.

Schools and daycares are to immediately start testing for lead annually. As well all facilities built before 1990 are to flush their systems daily, rather than weekly.

There is a proposed new regulation to make it mandatory for municipalities to regularly test for lead at a specified number of taps. Homeowners and facility owners are to be notified of the results so they can take corrective action if elevated levels of lead are found.

As well, low-income parents with infants and young children or pregnant women who live in older neighbourhoods are to be assisted with the cost of filters if they are recommended.

The provincial government is also to assist municipalities with advice on how to adjust water chemistry in the municipal system to pick up less lead, encourage municipalities to conduct public education campaigns and provide them with the best practices to make lead line replacement more affordable.