Question #25 of the Roundtable focuses on focuses on source water protection.
Our soft deadline for your answers on the question today and for next week is April 20th.
You are welcome to offer up to 500 words.
Access to high quality drinking water is a precious resource in Canada and our city. We cannot afford to overlook our dependence on it and to sustain eternal vigilance ensuring its protection. In London, we are favoured with access through water pipelines to Lake Huron and Lake Erie, back-up groundwater wells to ensure a secure supply, and treatment plants to ensure our safety.
And yet, activities that cause water pollution are everywhere. From the salt we put on our roads, to combined sewer overflows and sewage treatment bypasses that end up in the Thames River during major rain storms, to the nearly unchecked chemical run-off coming from both farm fields and even our residential lawns. All this effluent flows into our streams, into the Thames River, and then into the Great Lakes from which we drink.
Periodically, we alert to the problem of water pollution such the Walkerton tragedy in 2000, and it draws our attention for a limited time. However, on the everyday business of ensuring the quality of water resources, the majority of us appear to pay limited to no attention. According to City officials, a survey of Londoners in 2011 illustrated that many Londoners were not specifically aware of the source(s) of their tap water.
The Provincial Government is slowly putting into place "source water protection plans." "Regional source water protection committees" under the Clean Water Act, 2006 are finishing their 5 year task to prepare plans, but definitive plans are not yet in place. The Sustainable Water and Sewage Systems Act, 2002 still has not been declared into force and its regulations have yet to be approved.
Do you think we value our drinkable water supplies sufficiently, or do we take drinkable water too much for granted? Do you think it important that the City of London increase awareness about the connection of citizens's household practices and effluent going into the Thames River (e.g., driveway runoff and yard management)? In the face of government's long time frame and modest action on "source water protection," what do you think we should do locally on our own as individuals? What can ordinary citizens do to improve water quality and source water protection?
Answer
Personally I think it is rather alarming that we don’t know where our drinking water supply comes from. It is something we really don’t think about, we turn on our tap we drink it we hardly think of where it comes from, Lake Erie and Lake Huron. I think we do take this for granted and since we are getting our drinking water from another source people don’t really think about the effects of polluting our own local water the Thames River. London residents should be made aware of their own water wastes and how they can impact the local river which will in turn empty into the drinking water supply. I think that Londoners should be made aware of the impacts that their daily products have on our water, if possible such. We are limited to what we throw out what if we were limited to what water we waste or what chemicals we dump. If people don’t know then they are less likely to care. The pollution in water does not dilute, it spreads and traces can be found at all levels of the food chain. This can effect human health through consumption of fish and water.
As far as household products go how do we know what will be less harmful to the water? Avoid products with hazardous symbols. Buy only environmentally friendly products. Look for the eco logo. Don’t dump things down the drain that could cause problems to the sewage system such as dental floss, hair, disposable diapers and plastic tampon holders in the toilet – these items create many problems at the sewage treatment plant. Save food scraps and compost them instead of dumping them down the drain. Choose latex (water-based) paint instead of oil-based and use it up instead of storing or dumping it. Choose safe pest controls to eliminate pesticides in our water, DON'T pour oils, paint compounds, solvents and other products into storm sewers, onto the street, or into your driveway. Remember water quality when camping with safe swage and boating by keeping up with maintenance to reduce risks of leaks. Stay informed. It’s easy. That is what I do anyways read what products are good and safe and how I can help to ensure I am doing my own parts. London needs more awareness in the newspapers, radio, news, pamphlets, ads.
Flouride is becoming an issue and Londoners are becoming aware, this is a problem that we can unfortunately not control in our own daily water use and consumption but atleast with household items we can control the impacts on our water supply.
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