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Vancouver Water

• Tunnels, Troubles and Your Tap Water: $820 Million Hangs in the Balance

  Sunday, January 29th, 2012

  Is the Seymour Filtration Plant, completed December 2009, delivering filtered water to your tap year-round, during the rainy season only, or not at all? The answer depends on where you live and/or work, and how much longer this delayed and over-budget project will take to finish.
  
  Swollen budget, delayed delivery
  Although the Seymour Filtration Plant is completed, it is just one component of Metro Vancouver’s Seymour-Capilano Filtration Project. Unforeseen difficulties prolonged the boring of twin tunnels (each more than 7km in length and almost 4 metres in diameter) through the base of Grouse Mountain. These tunnels still need to be lined and hooked up. Their intended purpose is explained below.

  The budget for this massive yet-to-be-completed project has swollen from $600 million to $820 million. Fraught with difficulties, the original 2009 completion date has been pushed back to 2013. Read on to find out what this means for you.

  Know your source water*
  Metro Vancouver supplies water to 18 municipalities** from 3 wilderness reservoirs in the North Shore Mountains – Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam (see second map). Water from snowmelt and rain runoff is captured in these reservoirs.

  • Seymour (yellow) reservoir  typically supplies eastern Burnaby, South Surrey & western New Westminster.
  • Capilano (purple) reservoir normally supplies western North Vancouver, Vancouver, Richmond & western Burnaby. See exception below.
  • Coquitlam (green) reservoir supplies Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Langley, eastern New Westminster & Coquitlam. Its water is treated with ozone and chlorine and is not part of the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Project.

  Delivered by gravity
  Because these 3 reservoirs are situated at higher altitudes, gravity is the most cost-effective means to deliver water downhill to your municipality (see purple, yellow & green areas on map).  Typically, your water will come from the reservoir above (directly north of) your municipality (rather than cross-pumping from another reservoir).  The exception is the Capilano area (purple).

  Water quality challenges close Capilano reservoir during winter months
  Until the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Project is completed (2013?), those of us in the purple area will get unfiltered Capilano water (via gravity) during the summer months and filtered Seymour water (via cross-pumping) during the winter months (approximately late September to late April). The geological conditions surrounding the Capilano reservoir introduce an excessive amount of sediment into the water in the winter rainy season. This condition is called turbidity.

  Why Twin Tunnels?
  The tunnels are Metro Vancouver’s intended answer to this Capilano  water quality dilemma. When completed, one of these tunnels will pump water from the Capilano reservoir to be filtered at the Seymour Filtration Plant. Once filtered, the other tunnel will shunt water back to the Capilano reservoir for downhill (gravity) distribution to the Capilano (purple) area.

  

  Schematic from Metro Vancouver publication about the S-C Filtration Project

   

  Chlorine added to all sources
  No matter which reservoir your water comes from, chlorine is added before water is sent into the distribution system.

  

  SFP Filter Gallery - photo by Mary Johnston, Nov 2011

  Seymour water filtered then chlorinated
  The Seymour Filtration Plant uses a process called coagulation and flocculation to remove sediment from the incoming source water. Water then goes through a massive UV (ultra violet) treatment ‘gallery’. (See photo) Finally, chlorine is added before sending the finished water into the distribution network.

  Fortunately, fluoride is NOT added to water in Metro Vancouver.

   

   

   

  *The colour coding referred to in this article is based on the 2006 map supplied courtesy of Metro Vancouver. Delineations are not precise and changes may have occurred since the map was created. To verify the source of your water, contact your municipality’s water quality department.

  **The 18 municipalities to which Metro Vancouver supplies water are as follows:
  Anmore
  Bowen Island
  Burnaby
  Coquitlam
  Delta
  Langley (City)
  Langley (Township)
  Maple Ridge
  New Westminster
  North Vancouver (City)
  North Vancouver (District)
  Pitt Meadows
  Port Coquitlam
  Port Moody
  Richmond
  Surrey
  Vancouver
  West Vancouver

  ***The aerial view of Seymour-Capilano Water Utility Projects (with red scematic overlay) and the Cross-section of the Twin Tunnels are from Metro Vancouver’s online publications about the project.

  Posted in Vancouver Water, Water Treatment Guide

• Map Details Your Tap Water in Metro Vancouver

  Sunday, January 29th, 2012

  Locate yourself on this map to find out about your tap water.*

  Yellow area – Seymour: your water is coming from the Seymour Filtration Plant and is filtered year round. It is also chlorinated. Details here.

  Purple area – Capilano: from approximately late September through late April your water is coming from the Seymour Filtration Plant and is filtered and chlorinated. Until the tunnels are hooked up to the filtration plant and the Seymour-Capilano Filtration Project is completed in its entirety (2013?), during the summer months your water will come from the Capilano reservoir. This water is unfiltered however chlorine is added. Details here are most relevant to you. Certain parts of West Vancouver supplied by Eagle Lake  are the exception. Eagle Lake has its own treatment process.

  Green area – Coquitlam: your water is coming from the Coquitlam reservoir. It is ozonated and then chlorinated before being distributed to your municipality. Plans are underway to add UV (ultra violet) to Coquitlam’s treatment process (preliminary plannning targeted for 2013). Coquitlam’s water is not part of the Seymour-Caplilano Filtration Project.

  *The colour coding referred to in this article is based on this 2006 map supplied courtesy of Metro Vancouver. Delineations are not precise and changes may have occurred since the map was created. To verify the source of your water, contact your municipality’s water quality department.

  Posted in News & Initiatives, Vancouver Water, Water Treatment Guide

• CHLORINE: when ‘less’ means you get more

  Thursday, December 15th, 2011

  Experiencing uncomfortable levels of chlorine in your water?
  Since our water in Metro Vancouver is now filtered*, less chlorine is being added.
  So why are the fumes as obnoxious as ever?

  Sediment in water interferes with disinfection processes and consumes chlorine. The Seymour Filtration Plant removes sediment from water, making chlorination more effective.

  Chlorine has a ‘residual’ effect that continues to disinfect water as it moves through the distribution lines to your tap. Now that our water is filtered, more residual chlorine is able to successfully reach your tap without being consumed before it gets there.

  Consequently, you turn on the tap and get a better dose of chlorine.

  *This applies to those of us in Metro Vancouver whose water comes from the Seymour Filtration Plant.
  Sign up for the watermatters newsletter for updates about your local water quality.

  Posted in Vancouver Water, Water and Health

• Blonde Hair Turning Green? The Fix is a Shower Filter.

  Saturday, October 15th, 2011

  Chlorinated water can give blonde hair a green tint, much to the display of many women who spend a fortune on their prized locks. A de-chlorinating shower filter will help stop this from occurring. Both KDF shower filters and Vitamin C shower filters are great for neutralizing nasty chlorine, which is very hard on eyes, skin and lungs as well as hair.

  Chlorine is a gas which vaporizes in the heat of a shower causing it to be inhaled through the lungs and absorbed into the bloodstream through the pores of the skin, our largest organ. In fact, we are exposed to far more chlorine in our daily shower than we are from drinking chlorinated water.

  A KDF shower filter may also put an end to blue-green staining that can occur in homes with copper pipes in areas like Metro Vancouver where our water supply tends to be slightly acidic. Once a KDF shower filter is installed and the old staining is scrubbed away, the problem should not re-occur.

   

  Posted in Vancouver Water, Water and Health, Water Treatment Guide

• Post Fukushima radiation – effects on Metro Vancouver drinking water

  Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

  Since the catastrophic tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima on March 11, 2011 watermatters has been in repeated contact with all levels of government, health authorities, academics, scientists and lay people seeking current local test data concerning radionuclide levels in Metro Vancouver’s water. It has been of particular concern to us as Metro Vancouver is supplied by surface water from snow and rain (not ground water), collected in three open reservoirs – Capilano, Seymour and Coquitlam.

  Testing for radioactivity in Metro Vancouver’s drinking water

  Shortly after the initial incident at the Fukushima power plant on March 11, Metro Vancouver started water sampling to test for various radioactive isotopes. These samples were taken from the intakes at each of our three reservoirs and sent to the Saskatchewan Research Council. The SRC is one of only two facilities in Canada with the equipment necessary to do this specialized testing – an expensive process. The test results are posted on Metro Vancouver’s website.

  By early May 2011, local authorities deemed it unnecessary to continue this sampling (and posting of results) because test results were indicating that any changes in radioactive isotopes levels were negligible. This decision appears to have been made by provincial health authorities, probably in consultation with Health Canada, local scientists and radiation specialists.

  Radiation continues to leak from Japan

  Meanwhile, it was coming to light via alternative media and professional sources that the state of affairs in Japan was (and continues to be) far from stable. Earthquakes and typhoons continue to threaten Japan.  Radioactive waste continues to leak into the Pacific Ocean, raising questions about how much of this contamination might affect radioactive levels in fish.

  Testing for radioactivity in Canadian fisheries

  In August the Canadian Food Inspection Agency tested twelve fish from different sources and reported all were below Health Canada action levels for radioactivity. We contacted the CFIA for more details and were told that of the twelve fish tested in total, ten were salmon, two were tuna. The species tested were Pink, Sockeye, Chum, Coho and Spring salmon, and Albacore tuna. The twelve fish tested were all wild. These fish were taken at various points in the coastal waters off of Vancouver Island including the Georgia and Juan de Fuca Straits, from deeper waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, and from various mainland rivers.

  Casual local rainwater testing shows no recent unusual levels of radiation

  We recently contacted the SFU nuclear scientist whose samplings for radioactivity in local rainwater and seaweed made the news in March. He evidently continues to casually test radionuclide levels when it rains. (This activity is not part of his professional mandate.) We spoke with him shortly after the last very heavy rainfall in September about which he reports that he found “nothing”, referring to detectable radionuclide levels. He expresses no concern about the situation, saying that we already live with a significant level of radioactive isotopes inherited from nuclear testing in the sixties. Also contributing to ambient levels is background radiation from naturally occurring ores in our environment and from cosmic radiation.

  Official positions based on points of view or actual local data?

  All local, provincial and federal government and health authorities with whom we have spoken regarding this issue have consistently asserted that we are not at risk here in BC. It has been our impression that most of these individuals have no in-depth understanding about nuclear radiation. Even with those trained in radioactive impact, their stance relies heavily, if not entirely, on the position and findings of remote official sources beyond their own jurisdiction. The situation is complicated by the mind-bending equations needed to interpret radioactive measurements in Bequerels and Sieverts.

  Japan incinerating Fukushima’s nuclear debris

  Most recently we have learned that rather than containing the radioactive debris from Fukushima, the Japanese government is now planning to transport massive amounts of it to other parts of Japan to be incinerated. There are serious concerns that this will expose the rest of the Japanese population to radioactive contamination and increase the possibility of radionuclides reaching the Canadian west coast via air currents.

  On-going potential for radioactive contamination warrants continued local testing

  People around the world are fast losing their trust in the decisions that officials make on our behalf – a powerful unravelling that especially characterizes this year, 2011. Given that the situation in Japan is not stable, that contamination continues to leak from the site of the accident and that Japan is planning to incinerate massive amounts of contaminated nuclear debris from the Fukushima accident, we feel that continued local testing of our water supply is warranted, if simply to show people that there is, indeed, no current spike in radiation levels.

  To this end we have been in touch with various local, provincial and federal departments pointing out that it would be in the interests of all concerned to continue to test our local water supply and to publish scientifically based local data showing that there continues to be no need for concern. If the test results don’t support this then we need to know that too.

  The Japanese people can certainly use all the support we can give.

  …………..
  
  Resources:

  Citizen’s group initiates radiation monitoring
  Frustrated by the lack of satisfactory data from official sources, the following citizens action group has initiated its own radiological testing:
  Canadian Collaborative for Radiation Awareness & Monitoring

  Nuclear scientists concerned about lack of disclosure

  • Arnie Gundersen
    Mr. Gundersen is a nuclear engineer and a former nuclear industry executive, US expert on nuclear energy and nuclear industry problems.
  • Professor Chris Busby
    Busby sits on the European Committee on Radiation Risk. He is personally testing for radionuclide levels in Japan, reports that his detection methods are finding dangerous levels of plutonium, strontium 90 and uranium in Japan that are not being reported by the Japanese government.
  • Finnish scientist’s theory about Fukushima
    Interesting…!

  Government contacts
  Some government officials and health authorities involved in decision-making and public relations regarding radioactivity and drinking water:

  • Dr. Patricia Daly
    Chief Medical Health Officer
    Vice President, Public Health
    Vancouver Coastal Health
    601 West Broadway
    Vancouver, BC., V5Z 4C2
    604.736.2033
  • Richard A. Taki MA,CPHI (c)
    Regional Director, Health Protection
    Vancouver Coastal Health
    #1200-601 West Broadway
    Vancouver, BC., V5Z 4C2
    P: 604.675.3809  F: 604.736.8651
    email- richard.taki@vch.ca
  • Dr. Abderrachid Zitouni, PhD
    Provincial Radiation Protection Specialist
    Environmental Health services/Radiation Protection
    British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC)
    655 West 12th Avenue, BC V5Z 4R4
    Work: 604-707-2450
  • Lauren Bergman
    Environmental Impact Specialist
    Radiological Impacts Section
    Radiation Protection Bureau
    Health Canada
    Ph: 613-960-5603
    Fax: 613-960-5604
    Email: lauren.bergman@hc-sc.gc.ca
  •  John Lynch
    Canadian Food Inspection Agency
    Executive Director
    Food Safety and Consumer Protection Division
    CFIA
    1-800-442-2342.

  Radiological Parameters in Drinking Water
  Water samples may be screened initially for radioactivity by measuring Gross Alpha and Beta activity.  Compliance with the Canadian drinking water guidelines may be inferred if measurements for gross alpha and beta activity are less than 0.1 Bq/L and 1 Bq/L respectively.  If the measurements exceed the limits, additional radiological testing for natural and manmade isotopes such as Cesium 137, Iodine 131, Lead 210, Radium 226 and Strontium 90, as listed in the guideline may be required and can be carried out by SRC Analytical.

  Health Canada’s Radiological Guidelines and Parameters
  Health Canada’s Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality
  Health Canada’s radiological monitoring data
  How radiological guidelines are calculated

  The formula for calculating the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) is provided as:

  MAC (Bq/L) =        ________  0.1 mSv/year      __
  730 L/year x DC (Sv/Bq) x 1000 mSv/Sv

  Where:
  0.1 mSv/year is the dose constraint used for drinking water
  730 L/year is the drinking water consumption rate for Canadians
  DC (Sv/Bq) is the dose coefficient for ingestion recommended by the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) 72 (1996)

  In order to calculate the dose from a given activity in Bq/L, you have to re-arrange this equation.
  To calculate dose, you would use the follow equation:

  Dose (mSv/year) = Activity (Bq/L) x DC (Sv/Bq) x 730 L/year x 1000 mSv/Sv

  Posted in Vancouver Water, Water and Health

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