New technology on tap to clear Casselman's murky water, mayor says
Rising levels of manganese in South Nation River turning town's tap water brown
The mayor of Casselman, Ont., says she'd like to see a permanent solution to the community's water problems, but a pilot project will have to do for now.
For years, the community's drinking water has seen rising levels of the trace mineral manganese in spring and summer.
Manganese gives water a brown colour, making it unappealing to drink and discolouring laundry and pipes. Like other minerals, taking too much of it can be bad for people's health.
The problem in Casselman has been getting worse as the water source, the South Nation River, is releasing higher levels of the easily soluble mineral.
Despite assurances by authorities of the water's potability, residents have told CBC it's like drinking what looks like swamp water.
"This historical high I believe has happened twice in the past 10 years," Casselman Mayor Geneviève Lajoie told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning on Tuesday.
"But I do anticipate it's going to increase in frequency because of climate change, and our water sources are just drying up. Also with this really warm winter, we don't have ice that will melt to slow down the process here."
I'm determined to solve this problem and find a solution for the long term.- Casselman Mayor Geneviève Lajoie
Lajoie said the ultimate solution would be to tap into nearby Clarence-Rockland's water supply, which comes from the Ottawa River, but the cost of doing that is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars — and rising.
For now, the community is embarking on a pilot project to change the way it treats its water, Lajoie said.
"The current chemicals are not treating the water [in summer] as well as we could. It's also done manually, so we don't have technology that's monitoring it on an ongoing basis and treating it as it's coming through," she explained.
'Anything's possible'
Enter water engineer Bill Dallala, who presented both a study and a plan to municipal council in September.
According to Lajoie, Dallala proposed using technology to treat the water as it enters the system rather than manually testing it.
"The treatment will occur more quickly," said Lajoie, who hopes residents will see an improvement come spring when the pilot kicks in.
Dallala's approach will be to install a chlorine dioxide generator as an oxidizer that will more quickly disinfect and reduce "turbidity levels," according to his report.
Dallala's work has been done in conjunction with the Ontario Clean Water Agency, the provincial authority that operates and maintains Casselman's water and waste water treatment facility.
Lajoie is also promising to come up with a communication plan to keep residents informed of any developments, good or bad.
Ultimately, she wants the province to come through with enough funding to pipe in a different source of drinking water.
"Anything's possible. I'm determined to solve this problem and find a solution for the long term," Lajoie said.
With files from CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning