The flow of water to our homes made for some short discussion at Monday evening's Prince Rupert council session, with Councillor Nick Adey introducing one of the themes, by way of an inquiry over how residents could find out about the status of their home water coursing through their pipes.
The conversation which came in the waning moments of Monday's Session had the City councillor seeking clarification on what steps a homeowner could take to put their minds at ease about the water in their homes.
"A little while ago, we talked about lead in pipes for the water and the idea that for the most part ... the information that came out was that if your house was built prior to 1990, there's a possibility that some of the soldering in the copper pipes in the residential property might have lead in them. So, given that that's most of the houses in town in terms of age, I'm just wondering how a home owner could go about getting their water tested so that they can respond or put their minds at ease"-- Councillor Nick Adey at City Council Monday evening
Veronika Stewart, the city's communication manager fielded the question observing as to how the city had previously hosted a free program with Northern Health, though noting for Council that the program had since come to an end.
And while that program came to an end over the summer, Ms. Stewart did suggest that anyone in the community looking to test their home water, could approach the local company Northern Labs for a water testing kit. something which she stated costs in the range of 30-40 dollars.
The Mayor picked up the theme of the discussion on the night, directing residents to view the city's website and Facebook page where an information video is available that explains what the water issues are and what approach the city has taken towards them.
He also took advantage of the opportunity to observe on the recent success in accessing funding for water related infrastructure and how once the Water treatment facility is constructed many of the issues should be resolved.
Mr. Brain did however outline how the city continues to express caution for residents to test their home supply and flushing their pipes; while at the same time reinforcing the city's often stated commentary that the city is not delivering lead to the homes, but that any reports of lead are through the leeching of the home pipes.
He noted how the city is working as fast and as hard as possible to get the city's 100 year old water infrastructure updated and how they are looking forward to having one of the best water treatment systems in Canada.
"Now that we have received funding for all three phases for the water supply project once the water treatment facility is constructed many of the issues in the community should be resolved from that point forward" --Mayor Lee Brain speaking Monday on the city's water issues
To clarify his opening remarks, Councillor Adey observed how he didn't mean to mislead anyone on the topic and how he understood that it was an issue of the pipes in homes that he was speaking towards.
As the Mayor noted in his remarks, the city has provided for some information related to the lead issue, with the City having last addressed the topic in full scope in August.
Somewhat surprisingly among all the talk of the city's water supply, not one of the four members of the Council in attendance on the night, (three members were apparently not available for the council session) brought up the topic of the most recent Boil Water Notice for section Two, which as of Monday's meeting was still in place.
The city had put the Graham/Atlin area under the Boil Water Notice last Thursday, only lifting it yesterday afternoon, making for a weekend of boiling water and stocking up on some bottled water for Section two residents.
Considering that the issue of low flow and issues related to it seems to be an ongoing concern for that area of town and one yet to be addressed despite the lengthy period of time that it has been noted.
When it comes to the city's showcase neighbourhood and the one area that has among the highest of residential taxes to pay; one imagines that most living in the area have likely already installed their own home filtration units for their water supply.
Still on a night when water seemed to be talking point for the relatively short get together, the lack of even a mention of the situation on the West side seemed like an unusual oversight.
You can review the discussion on water from the City's Video Review below, it starts at the 46 minute mark.
A wider overview of the city's infrastructure issues is available here.
For more background on Monday's Council session see our Council Timeline feature here.
A larger look at Council Discussion themes can be found on our Council Discussion archive page.
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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