Flin Flon’s drinking water met provincial health guidelines last year, demonstrating again that the city’s multimillion-dollar treatment plant is doing its job, a new report shows.
In compliance with provincial law, the City of Flin Flon issued its 2015 Public Water System Annual Report last month.
The document includes results of water tests in nearly 20 different categories, from lead and arsenic levels to the prevalence of compounds known as trihalomethanes (THMs).
THMs have been linked to disease when consumed at high levels over many years. Prior to the water treatment plant opening in 2013, the city had trouble meeting THM standards.
Thanks to the plant, THMs were not a concern in 2014. And although one water sample tested elevated for THMs in 2015, the average of all samples were well within the provincial guideline.
A single test also exceeded the guideline for haloacetic acids, also potentially health-damaging compounds; however, average levels were again within the guideline.
“While there may be sporadic readings higher than the guideline…the averages being reported by Flin Flon are in the acceptable range,” Manitoba’s Office of Drinking said in a statement to The Reminder. “There is no concern from the Office of Drinking Water.”
The city is required to test the drinking water for 16 substances. Chlorine is tested daily, both at the treatment plant and within the water distribution system.
Tests for coliforms and E. coli are performed bi-weekly, with THMs and haloacetic acids tested quarterly. The average of those four tests is used to determine compliance with provincial guidelines.
The water is tested annually for lead, antimony, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, dissolved fluoride, nitrate N, selenium and uranium.
The city has estimated the cost of the treatment plant at $15.2 million, but last month council said the actual tab remains unknown.
The city’s latest budget included a $1 million contingency amount for the plant that may or may not be spent.
“When you have a project this big, at the end of the project, generally the general contractor will say, ‘Okay, you owe us this much’ and the vendor will go, ‘Well, no, we only owe you half that amount,’” Coun. Bill Hanson said last month. “So then you get to the final days where you are, you know, ‘Okay, what are you charging us for here?’ And so basically that’s where we’re at. So we don’t have a fixed cost on that yet.”
