Danger on tap
| Image: Jupiter | Published: April 08, 2008
Don't Drink the Water was, if memory serves, a Dave Matthews song, and not one of the better ones. It's also a headline in this morning's Globe, and the article beneath it reveals that British Columbia ranks once again near the top of the nation.
Unfortunately, it's in the number of times our water was unfit to drink. With 530 boil-water advisories in 2007, B.C. was second only to Ontario, which had 679.
According to the reporter, Caroline Alphonso: "The numbers, provided by provincial authorities, show that every province and territory, except for Prince Edward Island, Yukon and Nunavut, has advisories in place warning people that tap or well water is unsafe to drink – and in some cases risky to bathe in – because of contamination."
Question: Do you drink Vancouver tap water? How do you feel about it?
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Comments
The number of boil water
By Anonymous, July 9, 2008 at 21:49The number of boil water advisories do not necessarily reflect water that is unfit to drink, but do reflect water systems that are not treated. We have a community water system that was in use with no issues since the 1960's, however, after Wakerton, the health act was changed to say that any water system( that is 2 or more homes using one system) must be treated. If it is not treated, them a boil water order is put in place on them. These rules are not put in affect equally through out the province. The Coastal health is very agressive on the advisories, and I don't think there is a single system that does not have an advisory in place, and a formal notice to bring the systems into compliance. On the other hand, I know of a few systems in the interior that have not even been contacted by health about boil water notices, or upgrading. It is an extremely expensive proposition ( In our case about $500,000) to build these approved systems, and there is no government assistance for these. For more information go to www.smallwaterusers.com
Fred Wallace
In the past, I have fallen
By Anonymous, June 27, 2008 at 08:21In the past, I have fallen into the bottled spring water craze, now have a reverse osmosis filtering system. But recently my children watched a movie at school showing children in Africa gathering water for their family, sometimes from a puddle. The images were humbling and it stirred many conversations in our home about how very fortunate we are to live in a country where we have clean water flowing from the many taps in our houses. Instead of counting how many times we had to boil water, let's be grateful that we have water and that someone tests it for us and warns us when it is unsafe. There are millions of people in the world that do not have this luxury.
T. Taylor
I drink it all the time and
By Anonymous, May 14, 2008 at 18:00I drink it all the time and think I am OK.... now I am not so sure.
No wonder I'm getting all these strange growths and lesions....LOL
I have been drinking the tap water for 54 years and I am very healthy still.
JOHN CROSSEN
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