UW Bulletin

Wednesday, August 2, 2000

Half a million gallons a day -- by Gary Nyp

It said "BEER" one day in 1958, but the city's water system contained pure water, then and now

People are considerably more curious about the origins and quality of their drinking water these days.

The issue is of particular importance to UW, the single largest user of water in the city of Waterloo. In fact, staff and students consume some 500,000 gallons of water per day, about 700,000 cubic metres per year. Most of that water comes from a number of chlorinated wells throughout the city. Some of it, a portion of the close to three million gallons of water that flows to Waterloo each day from Kitchener's state-of-the-art Mannheim water treatment plant, also comes from the Grand River.

Ultimately, the university's water flows through an extensive pipeline system into the William Street pumping station. From there it is pumped through pipelines with distribution connections on Columbia Street and University Avenue.

Maq Ahmad, Waterloo Region's manager of water operations and maintenance, says "categorically" that UW staff and students can rest easy when it comes to the water they drink on campus. He says it is of extremely high quality and always has been. What's more, he says the region adheres to a very rigorous disinfecting process to ensure that the water consumed on campus continues to be safe.

Each of the 126 wells in the region is tested weekly for bacteria and organic contaminants, he says. What's more, every well is tested once a year for some 150 chemical contaminants.

The city wells that feed the university's water supply all undergo what continues to be a highly effective chlorinating process. Meanwhile, the surface water that flows into the Mannheim water treatment plant undergoes a strict disinfecting process that, in addition to chlorinating and filtering, includes the use of ozone gas to oxidize bacteria and other organics.

Until a few years ago, some of the university's water supply came from a region-owned well right on campus. Dubbed W4, the well, which was tested on a regular basis, was never chlorinated because of the high quality of its contents. But W4's production never quite met the university's ever-increasing demand and was ultimately discontinued as a drinking water source.

David Churchill, UW's director of technical services in plant operations, says the well's only use these days is to fill the biology department's fish tanks.

Churchill says there is another well on campus. Owned by the university, it is situated in the northeast corner of the campus and supplies drinking water to UW's radio station. Churchill says it is tested on an annual basis and was tested again in the immediate aftermath of the Walkerton tragedy. The water from that well continues to meet all safety and quality standards, he says.

Both Churchill and Ahmad say no extra precautions have been taken since the Walkerton tragedy.

"We haven't changed anything," Ahmad says. "We have never had a problem with our drinking water and we have a very strict protocol to make sure we never have one."

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