Inverness council to decide soon on treatment for hard water
Hal Higgins | CBC News | Posted: July 5, 2016 4:19 PM | Last Updated: July 5, 2016
'This is a priority,' says Coun. Jim Mustard
Many residents of Inverness County, N.S., are looking to their municipal officials to solve a hard water problem that has bedevilled them for a few years.
When the municipality switched from a reservoir to two deep wells in 2010, it introduced hard water into households—a development that can damage plumbing and ruin the heating coils in hot water heaters.
It's a significant problem, said Coun. Jim Mustard, who discussed the issue this week with his colleagues and municipal staff at the regular Inverness County council meeting.
Not a health issue
"It's not a health issue, but it's certainly an infrastructure issue for many residents," he said.
"Some people are forced to replace the water heating coils in their oil furnaces once a year, sometimes even more often, at a cost of between $400 and $600 each time."
Mustard said magnesium and calcium in the water builds up on the pipes. Plumbers have told him that in some cases the hard water will even damage some of the fittings in a water line.
The municipality must decide on an across-the-board method for dealing with the problem — either by building a water treatment facility at the source or by providing a subsidy to consumers who buy a water softener for their home.
Treat water at the source
"An average-size water softener for a family of four is about $1,300," he said.
He said a subsidy based on family income could be one option to help with those costs.
Most county residents who attended the last public meeting on the subject want municipal officials to look at treating the water at the wellhead itself, Mustard said.
Wise water decisions
With that in mind, the councillor and other municipal staff intend to travel to East Hants as early as next week to see the operation there.
Water treatment plants in Shubenacadie and Enfield have water softening facilities.
"We're trying to make a wise decision based on some of the experiences from other jurisdictions," he said.
'This is a priority'
There are five delivery systems in the Inverness water utility: Whycocomagh, Judique, Port Hood, Mabou and Inverness.
"This is a priority," said Mustard, noting that people are demanding a decision soon — and that council wants to oblige as soon as possible.
"I suspect by early fall the decision will be made, one way or the other."