PUC dishes on the stink

In advance of their presentation to city council on May 14, the PUC shed some light on what they will be offering to council at their Public Utilities Commission Meeting on Thursday afternoon.

Dominic Parrella, vice-president operations and engineering, said the PUC will provide background information behind their reasoning for switching from chloramine to a free chlorine system when they speak to council.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the presentation for concerned residents will be the conclusion; where Parrella says they will explain what is being planned to address the taste and odor concerns

Parrella said they will also highlight potential benefits and review consequences should they make the switch back to our previous system.

“The benefits of staying with free chlorine include avoiding having to add additional chemicals,” said Parrella. “If we switch back, we would need to add chemicals, including ammonia, to control corrosion in the pipes.”

Parrella added out of over 70 water systems in the province only 18 still use chloramine and said our history of chlorine use is nothing new, dates back to 1912.

“It’s at least 100 years,” said Parrella, regarding the Sault’s chlorine use. “We have record of it being used at least since 1912 and it might have been used even prior to that.”

Algoma Public Health and the Ministry of Environment will be also be in attendance to address concerns from citizens.

Parrella ensured our local drinking water is safe for consumption and said the complaints from people are only aesthetic.

"None of the concerns are health related," said Parrella. "The issue's people have are related to the taste and smell of our water."

When he speaks to council later this month, Parrella will provide a summary of the complaints received by the PUC since 2000 and added they’ve been getting concerns in regards to our drinking water previous to the changeover to free chlorine.

"I wonder if people are complaining the water has drastically changed since the switch to free chorine in 2011 or since the Walkerton incident in 2000," he said.

After the Walkerton incident, the Walkerton Public Utilities Commission was found to have been engaged in a number of improper operating practices - including failing to use adequate doses of chlorine.

And as a result, Parrella said the government brought in several regulatory changes.

In 2002, the Safe Drinking Water Act was passed by the province of Ontario and the way drinking water was filtered and monitored changed.

“One of the main results (of new government regulations) was we had to increase the amount of chlorine that we use in the system.”