Feature Article
March 4, 2004
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A Solution for Municipal Water Treatment WoesAt first glance it looks like small municipalities will be hit with exorbitant water treatment costs if they want to keep small community halls open. There are a few options available, and none of them is particularly palatable.
Option 1 is to go ahead and hire engineers, put in water treatment equipment and begin spending money testing water over and over again. How will this be paid for? There is only one way for small townships to raise money: property taxes.
Option 2 is to close community halls, which would have serious implications for vulnerable communities, and is something that no one wants to do.
Option 3 is to raise the costs charged to people who rent the halls. But in order to make the rent high enough to cover some of the new costs, the halls will be empty because no one will be able to afford the rent.
Option 4 is to start digging. There is a way around the safe drinking water act. The act says it is not sufficient to bring in bottled water or post signs saying dont drink the water. As long as there are public washrooms and a sink to wash up, water can get into peoples mouths and we could have Walkerton all over again. But, if the water were shut off, and outhouses put in behind community halls, the Safe Drinking Water Act would no longer apply. Porto-potties would work as well, but they have ongoing costs. Maintaining an outhouse is cheap, is a return to old traditions, and will allow halls to remain open without putting more demands on the property tax base.
It may not be an elegant solution, but it would work, and it would be a fun way of telling the province where to take their regulations.
