Engineers hold water safety workshop
Phil Duffy
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 11/01) - Canada is technologically behind Europe and the United States when it comes to dealing with a host of drinking water problems.
From algae and silt build-up to deadly bacteria such as e-coli, there is a myriad of contaminants that can find their way into drinking water.
Last Friday, members of the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of the NWT were told a national policy is needed when it comes to ensuring safe drinking water.
"What we need in Canada is a national strategy to deal with rural water quality issues," said Dr. Hans Peterson, executive director of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation.
"We are hoping that the federal government will play a role in finding new solutions."
He said Canada is only now beginning to catch up to Europe and the United States in awareness of water contaminants and research into how to prevent foreign bodies from tainting drinking water.
Ever since the Walkerton tragedy that saw a community's water supply contaminated with the e-coli bacteria, public awareness has begun to grow.
"The majority of drinking water research that is done in Canada is done in the big cities," said Peterson.
"Small communities are frequently left to their own devices to resolve some of these issues."
Yellowknife is one of the more communities when it comes to drinking water.
"Yellowknife has a very good water supply system," said Vern Christensen, an engineer and member of the association's professional development committee.
"We draw our drinking water from the Yellowknife river which has a relatively large watershed that doesn't run through an industrialized area.
"This means that we don't pick up problematic organic material in the water here."
Christensen helped organize Friday's workshop.
"It was very interesting to learn some of the problems that are occurring elsewhere in the country, and the treatment technologies being developed to deal with those issues," said Christensen.
"It helped our members to continue to grow with their profession."
