Brown water issues could be cleared up if the city goes ahead with a proposed pilot project putting zinc additive into the sytem. Photo by Dennis Chippa.
Brown water has plagued residents of the city for years.
It may be okay to drink, but it’s not that attractive.
Among those turning up their nose to coloured water is Engineering and Public Works Committee Chair Tanya Vrebosch.
“I don’t know about you but it’s not something I would want to drink. Brown water is safe to drink, but it has a lot more iron in it so it is technically safe to drink but esthetically and psychologically I think people just don’t want to drink it.”
It’s not just ugly; it can be costly, as brown water forces the city to constantly flush pipes to eliminate it.
Vrebosch says there are about 50 areas within the city that are constantly being flushed and another 200 or so where the city must flush a couple of times a year.
So the city is considering a $150,000 pilot project to add a corrosion control agent, made up largely of zinc, to try and solve the problem.
The zinc will provide a thin barrier between the pipes and the water to try and reduce corrosion of the pipes.
Vrebosch says surprisingly the problem rests with the good quality that North Bay's water has.
“Our water is such good quality that it actually deteriorates our pipes, so by adding this additive into the water what it’s going to do is reduce the number of flushing sites we have by about 15 to 20 per cent. It will reduce our chlorine levels by 15 to 20 per cent, the need to use chlorine by 10 to 15 per cent, and it will reduce that coloured water, and reduce corrosion of our pipes which will hopefully last a little bit longer.”
Vrebosch says the Ministry of the Environment has already pre-approved the program, and West Nipissing has had the program in place for a few years with no complaints.
“Does it change the taste of our drinking water? No it’s not going to. We’ve been told it doesn’t. What it does is reduce that brown coloured water.”
The company doing the work is called Environor, and council was told the zinc treatment is standard in water treatment, perfectly safe and environmentally friendly.
The Engineering and Public Works committee voted to move the project forward to full council for a vote.
The city feels the project will actually save money, despite the $150,000 the city plans to spend in the six month pilot project.
Vrebosch says that's important especially in light of recent studies showing about a quarter of the water produced at the city’s distribution site is wasted through flushing.
“I’m hoping we at least break even if not find some more savings. We spend $800,000 a year alone on hydro. If we do that 10 to 15 per cent savings you know we’re looking at 80 to $120,000 in hydro savings alone.“
If implemented that kind of savings could make things easier to swallow.
