The Fraser Health Authority’s David Plug says the boil advisory also covers about 80 homes in neighbouring South Surrey, “I believe the street numbers are 136 to 148. This is a precaution. Routine tests found that there was a small amount of contamination at one of the wells that is used by the water system. It’s just standard practice in that case to flush the system and chlorinate it. There have been no reports of anyone being sick from this.”

Affected residents are urged to boil their water for one minute prior to drinking, brushing teeth or washing food.

Plug says the advisory could last one week, “Although it could end sooner, it all depends on how quickly we get a series of test results back that are clear.”

Members of the public who have general questions are advised to call EPCOR at 604-536-6112.

The following information is for educational purposes only and is not meant to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. It should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction. Readers should consult appropriate health professionals for specialized medical advice.

Strong Alkaline Water is not for drinking.
It emulsifies oils and can be used externally to help calm inflammation.

• Oil removal – Helps remove oily substances.

• Cleaning vegetables and fruits – Helps lift off pesticides and fertilizer.

• Plants - Strong alkaline water can be used to kill fungi and other plant diseases.

• Inflammation – inflamed areas may be topically soothed by the application of strong alkaline water. (Try applying a towel soaked in strong alkaline water).

Alkaline Levels 1 – 3 (pH 8.5 – 9.5) are for drinking.

• Meat, liver – for tenderness, better flavour and less odour, cook after soaking for 20-30 minutes in the alkaline water.

• Fish – helps reduce fishy smell when cooked in alkaline water.

• Rice – For better texture and taste, soak in alkaline water for 30-60 minutes then cook the rice with alkaline water.

• Soups and stews – use alkaline water more flavour, less need for additional seasoning.

• Noodles – use alkaline water for udon, spaghetti and thick noodles. Use acid water for boiling buckwheat noodles and thin noodles.

• Coffee and tea – brings out richer flavour.

• Mixed drinks (alcoholic, reconstituted juices, etc) – use alkaline water for smoother drinks with improved flavour.

• Hangovers – drink 1-2 glasses prior before bed and again on empty stomach in the morning.

• Pets - increased health and energy as well as decreased body odour.

• Seedlings & grafting – germination rate and rooting of grafts may improve with alkaline water.

• Ornamental trees – alkaline water may promote root development and neutralize acid soil for alkaline loving plants.

‘Purified’ Water (pH 7) is drinking water that has been filtered but not ionized. This is advised for the following:

• Medication – take with water from ‘purified’ setting because ionized may cause some drugs to be assimilated too rapidly.

• Children and infants under 5 years of age – these youngsters are usually naturally alkaline.

• Baby food – use for preparing baby formula.

• Chemotherapy & radiation patients – while undergoing these oxidizing therapies the use of ionized water (which is powerfully anti-oxidant) may be counter-indicated. Use the ‘purified’ setting until series of treatment is complete.

Acid Water (pH 4 – 6) is not for drinking.
UNLIKE ALL OTHER IONIZED LEVELS, THIS IS THE ONLY SETTING THAT DELIVERS ACID WATER FROM THE UPPER SPOUT AND ALKALINE WATER FROM THE LOWER SPOUT OR OUTLET TUBE.
This weak acidic water is astringent and ideal for beauty applications:

• Face wash, toner, aftershave – astringent properties help to tone and firm your skin.

• Hair care - use acidic water instead of a conditioning rinse.

• Brushing teeth and mouth wash – mildly acid water is beneficial for oral hygiene.

• Pet care - brush your pet with this water for soft and shiny fur.

• Rinse cycle – for softer laundry in hard water areas, soak clothes in acidic water before the spin cycle.

• Cooking beans - they will cook to perfection, and in less time.

• Noodles – use acid water for boiling buckwheat noodles and thin noodles to keep them from becoming soggy. Use alkaline water for udon, spaghetti and thick noodles.

• Colour retention in veggies and fruits – wash foods containing anthocyanin  (pigment in cherries, plums, grapes, strawberries, lettuce, egg plant, soybeans, asparagus, etc) to maintain their vibrant color.

• Frozen food - spray food with acidic water prior to freezing to retain better flavour when thawed.

• Removing non-grease stains - soak clothes in acidic water for a full day.

• Polishing glassware - drinking glasses, mirrors, windows will come out sparkling clean.

• House cleaning - acidic water removes dirt from ceramic tiles, hardwood floors without leaving residue.

• Cut flowers – arrange in mildly acid water for prolonged freshness.

Strong Acid Water is not for drinking. It is excellent for sanitizing and disinfecting. When below pH 2.7, this water has been shown to disinfect germs and bacteria on contact. In soft water areas (like Metro Vancouver) the use of specially diluted Himalayan salt in the ionization process may be required to achieve levels below pH 3.5.

• Hygiene - use this water to disinfect your hands, toothbrush, door handles, bathroom and kitchen surfaces, knives, cutting boards, dish cloths.

• Bites and stings – acid water will disinfect as well as help take the itch out of bug bites.

• Mild burns and stanching blood flow – acid water has outstanding effect on stanching and disinfecting when applied by dipping or spraying the wound or injured part.

• Rashes, psoriasis, exzema - strong acidic water improves many skin ailments. Try wetting gauze with strong acid water and apply as warm compress on affected area.

• Athlete’s foot – dip the infected area in acid water at approximately 38℃ for 20 minutes per day. For difficult cases, add a little vinegar.

Also see…

Benefits of Ionized Water: Clinical Studies and Reports

The Alberta Tar Sands are one gigantic slow motion oil spill, the MOST destructive project on Earth. It seems that because this deliberately perpetrated disaster (which is fuelling the US and Asia while causing cancer and death in Canada) is not a dramatic accident, we allow it to continue almost unnoticed.

Let’s connect the dots.

• A pipeline (Kinder Morgan) currently transports 300,000 barrels of crude oil from Alberta to a port in Burnaby each day.
• The number of ships carrying crude oil out of Port Metro Vancouver has increased by 77% over the last year.
• Oceanographer, Peter Baker, warns there is little room in Vancouver’s port for manoeuvring these huge ships whose draft is so great that they have to enter and exit the harbour on high tide. A spill would spread outward on the tide and become unmanageable.
• Pipelines proposed for carrying oil from Alberta to a port in Kitimat for foreign export would endanger 1000 BC streams and rivers with spills and leaks that are impossible to contain or to clean up.
• These pipelines would increase tanker traffic by 220 tankers per year in BC’s sensitive coastal waters.

• The Harper government has re-written legislation to potentially enable oil drilling off the coast of British Columbia, doubling the risk to our ocean and shorelines.

What kind of culture are we that we numbly observe this organized destruction?
How have our values and intelligence become so degraded that we do not recognize and reverse the unnecessary consequences of this behaviour and the power brokers that mastermind it?
What will it take to prompt us to step up to our role as CREATORS of a healthy and happy world?

Hydrating thousands of people at a hot summer event doesn’t require a mountain of throw-away plastic water bottles. Recognizing the need for a more sustainable option, the Vancouver Folk Festival will provide self-serve water dispensing stations for free and easy access to fresh drinking water at this year’s event on July 16-18 at Jericho Park.

The Festival has invited the help of watermatters®, a Vancouver-based company that hooks up to the city water supply for dispensing free filtered water at public events. Mary Johnston, watermatters CEO, says “water bottled in plastic is clearly passé.
Public awareness is changing fast and people are responding eagerly to the self-serve dispensing stations”.

Federal and provincial regulation cannot prevent oil tanker and pipeline spills and leaks in BC – and they have failed to stop such spills in the past. We need laws that will protect British Columbia’s coastal and inland waters.

Pine River BC pipeline oil spill, August 2000,  photo courtesy of Wayne Sawchuk

Consider the recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, or the Exxon Valdez closer to home, to comprehend the scale of massive destruction that is possible.

For Canadian Rivers Day please make a donation to West Coast to help ensure that the integrity of BC’s rivers becomes safeguarded through the law.

Enbridge recently filed its application with the National Energy Board (NEB), and it will be reviewed by a joint review panel comprised of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and the NEB. NEB is made up of a number of people who are appointed by the federal government, primarily representatives from industry. The panel for the Enbridge project has 2 of these permanent members of the NEB sitting on it and one temporary member appointed just for the Enbridge project, a First Nations representative from Ontario with a history in the mining industry.

Statistics show that 99% of the projects submitted to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency have been approved, even if significant adverse environmental and socio-economic effects were found.

On June 21, 2002, Canada’s government issued a proclamation declaring that the second Sunday of June would be celebrated annually as Canadian Rivers Day.

It is time for our government to walk the talk.

The Enbridge pipeline will cross over 1,000 British Columbian streams and rivers, passing through the headwaters of the Fraser, Skeena and Mackenzie watersheds. Potential spills and leaks into our waters will affect communities and wildlife far beyond the point of the rupture; in a river’s fast moving waters, spilled oil is practically impossible to contain or to clean up. For example, the toxic effects of an oil spill into the Fraser river system could be felt for hundreds of kilometres, stretching through at least 77 communities, including 39 First Nations, and ecosystems along the entire length of the Fraser River and into the Pacific Ocean.

Alberta tar sands development ranks as one of the most damaging energy projects on the planet.

And every British Columbian stands to be affected by dirty oil.

Thwarting the expansion of tar sands infrastructure into BC – and thereby constraining Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions – is a top priority at West Coast Environmental Law. We continue to work tirelessly for reforms to environmental assessment law and practice on major development projects such as the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal to transport tar sands oil across Northern BC – and for a permanent, legislative ban on oil tankers on the north coast – to legally ensure that there will be NO TANKERS IN OUR NORTHERN COASTAL WATERS.

This article reproduced courtesy of West Coast Environmental Law

Banner Picture: Sakhalin Environment Watch
Skeena River, China Bar:  Evan Spellman Earth Light Photography
Pine River Oil Spill: Photo courtesy of Wayne Sawchuk
South Fraser Canyon: Gregory Melle
Map: Courtesy Living Oceans Society

Used under Creative Commons license.