Drinking water in Wellington North receives 100% rating for 15th consecutive year

KENILWORTH – For 15 years now Wellington North has received a 100 per cent rating of its drinking water.

Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks compliance assessments of Mount Forest and Arthur drinking water systems in 2022 yielded no issues and 100 per cent inspection ratings.

“It’s 15 straight years that we’ve received 100 per cent from the ministry of the environment, so something we’re very proud of,” environmental services manager Corey Schmidt told council on Feb. 6.

A 28-page annual report, required under the Safe Drinking Water Act, was presented to council this month, detailing water testing compliance and results for 2022.

According to the report, there were no “adverse water quality incidents” in which test results from treated water did not meet the provincial standard, or where water was negatively affected.

Such incidences would have to be reported to the province.

The report lists chemicals used for treatment — bleach is used for disinfecting water in the township, and in Arthur, sodium silicate is used to separate iron particles from water, and another similar “sequestering agent” is used for manganese — as well as water testing results, major water equipment expenses and any failures to meet provincial requirements and orders.

Seven wells in the township support a population of 7,668, with 3,470 residential connections, and 351 non-residential through 58km of water mains.

As water demand fluctuates, so too does the volume of water treated.

In Arthur, treated volume decreased by 1.3% last year, compared to 2021, and by 4.2% from 2020 levels.

In Mount Forest, there was a 2.8% decrease last year, and an increase of less than 1% when compared to the volume treated in 2020.

The concentration of 44 chemicals and nine metals — such as pesticides, industrial chemicals, solvents, arsenic, and uranium — is also checked in water samples taken from township wells.

Chemicals and metals found in the water did not exceed provincial standards at any well, however testing hasn’t been completed in Arthur since August 2021.

Explaining why that is, operations director Matthew Aston stated in an email that testing occurs on a 36-month schedule, “and Arthur and Mount Forest are performed in different years.”