Town threatens to take its treatment plant back over dirty water
Discoloured tap water still safe to drink, Crown agency assures residents of Casselman, Ont.
The mayor of Casselman, Ont., is threatening to take over the town's water treatment plant unless the Crown agency responsible for running it cleans up its act.
For months, residents of the town 55 kilometres east of downtown Ottawa have complained about discoloured water pouring from their taps. Sometimes it's yellow, and other times it's brown and smells like rotten eggs.
Ready to step in
Mayor Daniel Lafleur told CBC's Ottawa Morning the Ontario Clean Water Agency told residents the problem may be fixed in the new year, but the mayor says that's not good enough.
"If we don't have a change or cooperation from [the OCWA] ... you [can] be sure the council will take into consideration to take our plant over again," Lafleur said, adding the municipality's former water treatment plant supervisor still lives in the town and still has the expertise to step in if needed.
Terry Bender, the vice-president of operations with the OCWA, said this year's problems were caused by unusually high levels of manganese, which has now been filtered out. He said there shouldn't be any problems in the near future.
"From that river, where they are taking that source water, this year there was a high level of naturally occurring manganese," he said.
Bender said that's a common problem with water treatment plants, but the high manganese levels did last longer in the summer than normal. He said while the water was discoloured it was always safe to drink.
Lafleur said rusty pipes and aging hot water tanks may also be adding to the problem.
To eliminate the problem in the future, Bender said they will need to upgrade the plant and they're going to be studying options before presenting a proposal to the community.
"You probably won't see it sooner than a year, to go through the whole cycle of options, approval and construction."
He said the municipality opted to have them operate the plant beginning in January 2018 and it's up to the council to decide if that continues, but he said they bring a lot to the table.
"We have a large range of engineering and technical resources that we are deploying to the area right now," He said. "We have the collective knowledge of all the facilities we operate across the province."
Residents want fix
Susan Lajoie, who was among the 10 or so residents who attended the meeting to demand answers from the OCWA, said she's been drinking and cooking with bottled water for five months.
"I just want to see clear water," Lajoie said. She said she recently replaced her hot water tank, but the water still comes out yellow.
"We bought this house three years ago and I love this little place. I love it. You know, I love Casselman, but it's just the water.... I just want to see our water get back to normal."
On Wednesday, the morning after the meeting, Lajoie said her water was finally running clear.
"I hope it lasts," she said.