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October 2015
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Chlorine or Chloramine: White Rock asks how to disinfect tap water
Thursday, October 22nd, 2015The City of White Rock held a public forum (mid-October 2015) regarding its acquisition of the water-utility from Epcor. The forum was attended by about 30 residents.
At this meeting options were presented regarding how White Rock will disinfect its tap water to be in compliance with Fraser Health. The Director of Engineering presented two options: to disinfect with chlorine or chloramine (chlorine plus ammonia). It seems that the City’s bias is toward using chloramine. There are water chemistry reasons that might steer this decision toward the convenience of using chloramine instead of chlorine. However this choice will have significant health and environmental consequences. It is unfortunate that only a handful of White Rock residents were in attendance at this important public forum.
Chloramine is Controversial
The use of chloramine as a disinfectant is increasingly controversial.
Greater Vancouver went through a similar decision process and chose to disinfect with chlorine.
“In the early 1990’s, a comprehensive Environmental Assessment evaluated the use of both chlorine and chloramine as a secondary disinfectant. Through an extensive public consultation process in 1994, chlorine was chosen as the most favourable option.”White Rock Water Utility Billing Changes
White Rock officials also announced forthcoming billing changes resulting from the acquisition of the water utility.
Questions were raised about the as yet undisclosed amount the City has agreed to pay for the utility. The unofficial guestimate is $23 million.
Attendees of the forum also had questions about the sale of a parcel of land by Epcor. There is public controversy about this transaction involving a location (1454 Oxford St) which is now slated for high-rise development.
Feedback Requested from White Rock Residents
The City of White Rock is soliciting feedback regarding the billing changes and disinfection options – your input can be made here.
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White Rock Takes Back Its Water Utility
Thursday, October 22nd, 2015The City of White Rock has reached an agreement with Epcor to buy the city’s water utility on October 30, 2015. For many decades the utility had been owned by a local family and White Rock enjoyed the reputation of having excellent, unchlorinated water. In 2005 the utility was purchased by Edmonton-based Epcor and since then the utility has been fraught with controversy.
In 2010 an incident involving e-coli prompted the addition of chlorine to the City’s drinking water. Elevated levels of arsenic and manganese have been reported in White Rock water. Both of these minerals are associated with negative health effects. Manganese also causes unpleasant staining of laundry and plumbing fixtures. These minerals are commonly occurring problems in water drawn from underground. White Rock’s water is from a ground water source, the Sunnyside Uplands aquifer.
In 2012 Fraser Health, which is the regulating authority, added an operating permit condition with respect to controlling arsenic and manganese levels in White Rock’s tap water. According to this edict the presence of these contaminants must be within ‘acceptable’ levels by the end of 2018 and system-wide chlorination must be implemented by June 2016.
As residents and city officials became increasingly discontented with Epcor’s control of their water utility, consideration was given to making arrangements to acquire water from Metro Vancouver which is drawn from surface sources free of arsenic and manganese.
White Rock officials have since abandoned this possibility and made a deal with Epcor to buy the existing groundwater utility. The cost of the purchase has not been officially announced (as of late October 2015) but is estimated at $23 million.
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