1116 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

That lake is deeper than Constance Bank!!

[Victoria Watcher]

some might even say our water system is not the right one, for today.

 

why not treat our local stormwater runoff for domestic use?

[Mike K.]

Seems pretty good to me. Why treat garbage when we can access the best stuff on earth?

[Victoria Watcher]

Seems pretty good to me. Why treat garbage when we can access the best stuff on earth?

 

sooke is the best water on earth?  there is probably better water nearby.  why not extend the pipe to jordan river?

 

the problem with our system is we have to protect vast acreages that can likely be better used.

 

we have 20,550 hectares under protection.  that's twice the size of saanich.  we are kind of hogging the land.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 October 2021 - 09:32 AM.

[Mike K.]

We have vast acreages all over, not being better used, though. I don’t buy it.

And JR won’t have much water after an earthquake.

[Victoria Watcher]

i find it hard to believe the water system we started in 1915 is the best way to get our water today.  it probably was then when we had no idea how to properly filter and treat water.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 October 2021 - 09:37 AM.

[JohnN]

i find it hard to believe the water system we started in 1915 is the best way to get our water today.  it probably was then when we had no idea how to properly filter and treat water.

Probably the current water supply system is best for what we spend on it and for what we need now.

 

Since 1915, while the Sooke Lake Reservoir has grown massively in volume, there have been safety improvements such as chloramination and ultra-violet disinfection, stopping the commercial logging and keeping most of the the public out most of the time. At some time in the future, filtration will probably also be another quality improvement. 

 

Quality issues have occurred along the way, such as the 1995 toxoplasmosis outbreak that was traced to the now-disconnected small Humpback Reservoir.

 

Some of the biggest quality issues are near to the consumption point, such as lead on solder joints in buildings and bacterial growth in piping where there is heat and the water is detained for a time. In rural areas, a lot of CRD has residential drinking water wells which need pretty constant monitoring. 

Edited by JohnN, 31 October 2021 - 10:37 AM.

[Spy Black]

we have 20,550 hectares under protection.  that's twice the size of saanich.  we are kind of hogging the land.

I've made note previously that the protected lands around CRD Water are quite large. But I always ask folks if they've ever spent any time traveling in the area?

It's some of the roughest bloody country in B.C.

 

It doesn't have particularly high mountain elevations, but the terrain is brutally steep in places, and jagged and almost impassible in areas where it's not so steep. Much (not all) of the land in question is largely unusable for anything but logging, or protected watershed.

There is a fair bit of placer mining up in that area as well, but access is regulated heavily. There is also First Nations access, along with some very specific fishing and hunting permitted.

 

With the massively deep North end of Sooke Lake, and the Leech lands (with its potential for a second, heavily filtered water system 50 years or so down the road) ... the CRD's water supply requirements are pretty much assured up into the realm of centuries.

Edited by Spy Black, 31 October 2021 - 11:07 AM.

[Mike K.]

It’s an extremely rare situation we have, but then we also live in the best place on earth for fresh, clean and easily accessible water.

[Victoria Watcher]

Huh? Best place on earth? Pretty sure some Rocky Mountain river / glacier places are better.

Here is 10 places nearby with better water:

https://www.pelicanw...-north-america/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 October 2021 - 12:35 PM.

[Mike K.]

It’s like we’re princes and princesses comparing who has the nicer crown 🤴

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s just that out of the blue you declare our water best in the entire world. And I’m like, who ever told you that?

[Mike K.]

The prince.

[JohnN]

CRD assures that "Greater Victoria enjoys some of the best quality drinking water in the world at a reasonable cost, but maintaining this critical resource requires each of us to use water with care." 

 

However, for most residents of the region, the CRD is the wholesaler of drinking water and the actual stuff that flows from the taps for most residents has been retailed by municipalities to their residence or business and might not be so high quality as what arrives at the municipal border.

 

CRD Water Dept does do residential monitoring on demand when a quality complaint has been filed.

 

In the past, CRD Water Dept has advised Island Health when (usually in the fall after a very hot summer), they have had to increase the water disinfection to maintain safety. However, immunocompromised consumers might have been directed to go to bottled/filtered/distilled water for a few weeks).

 

With higher chloramines in the water, I've noticed a slightly more chlorine-like taste but could have been just my suspicion because I thought they might have done it. After the dam raised, I haven't noticed such a taste.

Edited by JohnN, 31 October 2021 - 02:09 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

We are told over and over how great our water is.

I believe it is pretty good.

But it’s not world class exceptional.

[Spy Black]

We are told over and over how great our water is.

CRD water doesn't require filtration, which is the point. Our water is world class at its source.

 

You can't confuse water after its been filtered six ways to Sunday through millions of dollars worth of filtration plants in order to make it drinkable, with water that is so low in turbidity and solids (which is our water) it requires no filtration whatsoever.

 

You also can't compare water from Sooke Lake with water we get temporarily during the Kapoor Tunnel maintenance. That water comes from the Goldstream watershed, and isn't at all the same as that from Sooke Lake.

[phx]

CRD water doesn't require filtration, which is the point. Our water is world class at its source.

 

 

Wasn't the water treatment plant built in response to a bunch of people coming down with giardia or some such?

[Spy Black]

Japan Gulch is the main treatment site for primary CRD water distribution.

Because the distribution system is comprised of many hundreds of miles of pipe, there is treatment performed at Japan Gulch. But that's treatment, not filtration (although there would typically be screening).

 

The actual treatment performed at Japan Gulch is typical of a water distribution system for some 350,000 people, in that it utilizes UV light, Chlorine, and Ammonia in order to ensure safe consumption.

[JohnN]

Wasn't the water treatment plant built in response to a bunch of people coming down with giardia or some such?

The 1994-95 outbreak of toxoplasmosis was world-class in size (although apparently not with serious consequences), the outbreak was traced to Humpback Reservoir and so that was terminated.

 

I can't recall giardiasis (aka "beaver-fever") ever being an issue with Sooke reservoir water but since it is present in some domestic animals, there may be localized transmission not associated with Sooke Reservoir system but could be with well water piping on farms, etc.

 

I think the first disinfection of Victoria's water was way back during WWII when, to accept water from Esquimalt provisioners, the UN Navy demanded chlorinated water:

Until 1943 there had been no need for disinfection. In that year, however, Victoria was a marshaling point for both Canadian and American troops. Under pressure from U.S. military authorities chloramination stations were installed at Japan Gulch and Humpback.   https://en.wikipedia...oir_(1915–1970)

Edited by JohnN, 01 November 2021 - 09:25 AM.

[phx]

Apropos of nothing, Ivermectin is an effective treatment for toxoplasmosis.