Syd_water_08-20

Jeff Green | May 22, 2008

Back toHome

XCG Consultants has received a $12,830 contract to sort out the persistently high trihalomethane (THM) levels in the water that comes out of the Sydenham water treatment plant.

In a report from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MoE) that the township received on May 8, it was recommended that the township have a “written action plan to control the formation of trihalomethanes in the treated water and thereby reduce the concentrations in the distribution centre below .080 parts per millilitre”.

Efforts aimed at controlling THMs by using a variety of coagulants to precipitate out the compounds have failed to bring them below the level of .100 parts per millilitre.

“The system operator, Utilitites Kingston, has had success in lowering the levels using aeration” said CAO Burns, “but without an engineer endorsing that process the MoE will never accept it.” One of the potential solutions that XCG will be looking at is aeration.

“The problem with the system is not enough water is used,” said Councilor Larry York.

“That’s true” said Gord Burns, “and the ministry has said we should force people who have not hooked up to the system to do so, but the Sydenham water project was so controversial that council has been reluctant to take a heavy-handed approach.”

The cost of the consultation will be covered by an $18,000 grant the township is receiving from the province this year as assistance to small communities with water systems. The township will receive the same amount for four more years.