Lack of information puts social media to boil on Prince Rupert water issues

Today marks Day Twenty Two since the first notification of the need to Boil Water in Prince Rupert, a three week period that  found the community working its way through the busy holiday period with the stove burners on full boil and the shopping carts featuring a foundation of bottled water supplies.

Along the way the City has been keeping to their original talking points on the situation as a climate related event, one that will only be resolved with the help of Mother Nature.

However judging by the growing amount of commentary among the social media portals of the community, the desire for a wider overview from the Civic Administration would be a welcome addition to the dialogue.

At the start of the Boil Water Notification, the Mayor made use of his political Facebook page, as well as to log onto other Facebook forums to add on to the city's narrative on the water situation.

Making a call for patience to await the return of more positive test results and an occasional observation of an eventual plan to provide for a water treatment plant for the community, should the city find success from any grant applications that they may make.

Mayor's update through Facebook offers up further details on City's water issues

Mayor Brain wades into Boil Water discussion on Social media over the weekend

The Mayor went so far as to direct the attention of those with an interest in the water issues to review his Hays 2.0 presentation of the Spring of 2018, where he did make mention of water treatment plans, though the bulk of his conversation on that theme at the time was focused on the city's aging storm and wastewater pipes and the need to treat the waste water that the city deposits into the harbour. 

Any notes on the city's drinking water supply, other than reassurances that despite the slight change in the colour to the water supply in the city, it was still considered safe, did not receive much of an overview from that April presentation, with no mention of any treatment plans for drinking water provided, as the clips below assembled from that event would seem to indicate.

The timeline for any water treatment plant was also indicated to be much of a long term vision, somewhere between 2020 and 2040, which would seem to mean that should this current situation be our new reality,  we may have to put an awful lot of pots on high boil between now and then.

Beyond the long term planning for some form of a water treatment project, the more immediate concerns for the public appear to be related to a lack of current information from the City on the subject of the ongoing Boil Water Notice.

A growing number of those that log onto the Mayor's Facebook page and some of the other social media forums in the community have been expressing concern for Seniors, Elders and those with health concerns that may not be able to keep to the daily schedule of boiling water.

Others have noted that residents on a fixed income may find the growing burden of constant purchases of  bottled water and increased hydro usage, to be an expense that is much more than an inconvenience as has been the theme of the narrative to date.

Then there are the concerns expressed over the actual testing process that has taken place in the past and the current level of testing during the Boil Water Notice, there has been little information relayed by the city when it comes to those results, other than that they are now considered to be at a point where the water is not safe to drink without boiling.

Even when the city does offer some information, the result hasn't delivered much in the way of detailed information and instead, at times has taken somewhat of a tone that seems out of step with what the community is looking for.

In a recent CBC item,  the City's Communication Officer Veronika Stewart offered up comments on the inconvenience of the moment, but also noted how it has been ten years since the community last had to deal with a similar situation, and if the response on social media is an indication, those are observations that do not seem to have resonated well with a number of those that have read them so far.

The CBC story also indicated that Prince Rupert's water is only tested twice a year for cryptosporidium and giardia, the two parasites that currently have us boiling our water.

That observation has only exacerbated concerns as to how often the city's water has been tested during the remediation work on both the water supply lines and now the preparation work on the Woodworth Dam project.

There is no doubt that the City is in a tough spot with perhaps the most vital of all its list of infrastructure issues currently the one in the spotlight.

How the City seems to be handling its presentation and release of information related to the water situation however,  is purely a problem that they appear to be creating for themselves.

For many of those that are busy boiling their water every day and buying bottles in bulk, what they seem to be looking for is much more in the way of transparency and a little less in the way of notes on how the public should be approaching the day to day challenges.

What's needed it would seem is another Hays 2.0 style presentation, let's call it Hays 2.0 v 3, water issues. 

The overview of the current situation, could be streamed live and placed on the City's You Tube Archive for the record, so those that want to learn more can have access to the talking points whenever they need a review.

The Mayor could take to the stage to explain in full, how we have ended up in this situation, outline the nature of the water testing process and provide full results from before and during the current Boil Water situation that has been put in motion.

Those test results should also be permanently posted to the city's website in easy to understand language for future reference by the community.

How the city's proposed water treatment plans will change how we view our water supply could also be part of the presentation, including what treatment plans the Mayor and Council have in mind for the city's drinking water, so that there's no confusion as to what we can expect should the city move forward on that long term plan for the city's water supply.

For the ongoing Boil Water process which so far shows no sign of end, the Mayor and his Council members should provide some guidance as to what the city may be able to do to ease the burden for Seniors, Elders and those with limited incomes,

Perhaps indicating if they can make use of the Legacy instrument for the current situation, or if MLA Jennifer Rice has anything to offer the community from the provincial government that she represents to the region.

Prior to the municipal election of October, many of the city council hopefuls and some of the incumbents had very active social media pages to educate the voters on their positions on civic issues.

However since the Boil Notice was issued, those Facebook pages of the successful six members have for the most part become deserted ghost towns, with nothing available to help address the concerns of those that voted them in to office.

The first City Council session of the year is fast approaching, set for January 14th and while City Council may have any number of topics that they will explore for the Agenda for the start of the New Year, it would seem that for the moment, there is only one thing that the residents of the city want them to focus on

It comes out of a tap and currently needs to be boiled before it is safe to drink or use.

For as long as this ongoing boiling process is required, that one local issue will most likely be the dominating theme for the city's elected officials to deal with.

Until the City can provide for the delivery of safe drinking water to its residents, the rest of those numerous Hays 2.0 vision planning goals from April would seem to be elements that perhaps may have to be put aside until there is full confidence again in the city's water supply.

Or, as the Mayor put it in April "we're going to have a problem in this town, if you can't turn your taps on"

You can follow the ongoing saga from December 14th onward through our Archive page here.


Cross posted from the North Coast Review