|
Water Stewardship
Town of Boissevain annual water system report 2011
The Town of Boissevain provides drinking water with sufficient quantity to the public. It is our goal to meet all the regulatory requirements in a safe and effective manner.
Where do we get our water from?
We pump water from the Boissevain Reservoir and from 5 wells into the Boissevain Water Treatment. The water supply is made up of 2/3 surface water and 1/3 well water.
Why do we treat our water?
We treat our water in a Lime softening process to remove the hardness and the iron. We are committed to provide soft and good quality water to our community. We have gravity filtration as well as Granular Actived Carbon filters to help polish the treated water. This process is designed to clarify the water and to remove microbial contaminants, such as bacteria, and organic materials that are found in surface water.
Why and how do we disinfect our water?
The final step in the treatment of our water is disinfection. The Drinking water safety act requires that the water is disinfected before it leaves the water treatment facility. Chlorination is our main disinfection treatment for our water supply to kill bacteria and viruses that are commonly found in surface water. An adequate amount of chlorine is added to the water before it enters the storage reservoir to ensure an effective kill and to provide disinfectant residual in the entire water system of the Town of Boissevain.
How much water storage do we have?
A reservoir underneath the water treatment plant has a capacity of 814,150 Litres. The reservoir is designed so that the water is always moving so it never gets stale.
Trihalomethane (THM) testing: Trihalomethanes are formed when chlorine reacts with naturally occurring organic matter in the water. The province has set the base standard for THMs of 100 micrograms per litre of water. The THM standard is base on an average of four samples per year. Our license requires we test every second year so we did not have to sample this year.
1) Disinfection, Monitoring and Reporting
Water testing, for What and When?
Water tests are taken daily at the water treatment plant to ensure the water is safe and to monitor how well the treatment plant is performing. We also test the distribution system at various times and locations and have all results submitted to the Provincial Office of Drinking Water for review.
Bacterial testing: We test the raw water (untreated water), the treated water (leaving the reservoir) and the water in the distribution system (within the Town of Boissevain) every two weeks (biweekly) for the presence of Total Coliform and for E. coli bacteria.
Disinfection testing: We test the level of chlorine in the treated water every day to ensure the chlorine levels meet the standards. Chlorine testing is also done when the bacterial samples are taken.
Turbidity testing: Turbidity is a measurement of the clarity of the water. We use turbidity to see how well our treatment system is working. Turbidity is tested daily as the raw water enters the system and after each filter and as it leaves the Water Treatment Plant.
To view the water quality analyses, the Disinfection Monitoring and Reporting, click here.
Major expenses incurred in 2011?
The GAC filter # 1 had the filter media replaced with coconut shell carbon to lower the THM’s in the distribution system. A spare lime pump was purchased for the water plant to help reduce down time waiting for parts. A spare recirculator drive was purchased to keep on hand in case of a break down of the lime mixing chamber. These breakdowns cause major problems with the NTU levels of the treated water to be in compliance. The Boissevain PWS changed our lime supplier to solve the problem with stones plugging the lime system and creating high NTU levels. The Boissevain PWS will install and operate equipment capable of continuously monitoring the free chlorine residual in the water entering the distribution system.
Town of Boissevain Water plant operators:
Barry Chinner, 38 years service in Water Treatment
Glenn Kentner, 29 years service in Water Treatment
Doug Harper, 21 years service in Water Treatment
Dustin Pugh, 4 years service as operator in training.