The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Chlorine levels in the community's drinking water have been dipping below provincial standards, and now the City of Flin Flon has taken a step to remedy the problem. Flin Flon City Council voted last week to fund a study to verify the chlorine levels and help ensure they meet Manitoba guidelines. "At times, we may have lower than accepted guidelines of chlorine, but it's not something that in any way means a health problem," said Councillor Dave Law at last week's Council meeting. "But with the changes in drinking water legislation and the problems that there have been around the province, we want to make sure that we're doing our best in regards to that." Councillor Law said in an interview that the low levels are "not a continual problem" and "seem to be intermittent." He made a point of stressing that Flin Flon "is very blessed" to have "excellent water." "This is just an ongoing step to improve our water quality," said Councillor Law. The City will pay Winnipeg-based UMA Engineering about $25,000 to conduct the chlorine study, which is expected to be completed this winter. The company will make recommendations as to how the chlorine levels may be kept up to par. Councillor Law said that UMA staff have already mentioned automated chlorine boosters, possibly located at the City's heating plants, as a potential solution. These devices would monitor chlorine levels and add the gaseous element to the water if the levels dipped below the appropriate amount. The City currently adds chlorine to the drinking water as it is pumped from Cliff Lake and does not have the capacity to add more chlorine from that location. A number of different factors can cause water to lose some chlorine, including warm temperatures, algae and pipe corrosion, according to Law. He's not sure what factor is at work in Flin Flon, but said that the automated chlorine boosters would solve the problem.
