City councillors decided to go with the flow and receive — for information purposes — Barrie’s water operations branch 2020 drinking water system reports.
The reports provide information to the city on the performance of the water system last year.
Coun. Jim Harris said Monday night this is no small matter.
“We take water for granted,” he said. “It’s life, right? Water is life.”
Barrie’s water system consists of a Surface Water Treatment Plant (SWTP), the associated low-lift pumping station, 12 groundwater wells, three in-ground storage facilities, three elevated storage reservoirs, seven booster stations, distribution watermains, and associated hydrants and valves.
Water for the SWTP is drawn from Kempenfelt Bay, while water supplied from the groundwater system relies on wells drilled into a deep aquifer that is not under the direct influence of surface water.
There are approximately 3,854 hydrants and 644 kilometres of watermain and transmission mains for approximately 44,591 services in the city, providing water to approximately 151,043 Barrie residents.
Mayor Jeff Lehman said there is a consistency to the city’s water system that has more than the obvious applications.
“One thing over the last 10 years that’s very much changed with the advent of the Surface Water Treatment Plant is that there’s pressure and redundancy, because we now draw our water from two different places,” he said. “IBM chose Barrie for its data centre (on Bayview Drive, in 2012) in part because we had redundant water supply.
“So that’s something you don’t know you need until it actually became an economic development advantage for us, and that was really as a result of the system and design that our staff had moved on more than 10 years ago, and then came to fruition," the mayor added.
Total residential consumption in cubic metres for water and wastewater increased by 5.7 per cent last year compared to 2019. This increase was offset by a reduction in consumption for non-residential (industrial, commercial, institutional or ICI sector) users by 6.6 per cent in 2021.
“We did see an increase in the water use with the residential users and there was a reduction within the ICI sector, and this was to be expected, given the year,” said city infrastructure director Bala Araniyasundaran, referencing the pandemic.
There were eight adverse water quality incidents in Barrie’s system reported in 2020 and each was resolved to the satisfaction of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, according to city staff.
These adverse water quality incidents ranged from one for low chlorine levels in water, to one for low pressure in the system due to a watermain break, to one for total coliform and E. coli exceeding regulatory limits to five incidents of total coliforms exceeding regulatory limits.
Public Health Ontario says: "Total coliforms are a group of bacteria commonly found in animal waste, sewage, soil and vegetation. They are also found in the intestines of animals and humans. Total coliforms are not likely to cause illness, but their presence indicates that your water supply may have been contaminated by more harmful microorganisms."
"E. coli is a specific member of the coliform group of bacteria found in the intestines of animals and humans," according to Public Health Ontario. "Although most strains of E. coli bacteria are harmless, the presence of E. coli in well water indicates fecal contamination. This means there could be harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites in your well water."
“The number of… adverse water quality incidents were down,” said Araniyasundaran, in addition to the number of watermain breaks.
Also, the overall efficiency of the Surface Water Treatment Plant was up, too.
“Throughout this system, there are monitoring stations and also this allows us to collect samples on a regular basis and to ensure that the drinking water that’s supplied meets all the requirements… and also the overall quality, both chemical and biological and chlorine residual requirements that the system has to meet," Araniyasundaran said.
The motion to receive, for information purposes, Barrie’s water operations branch 2020 drinking water system reports will be considered for final approval at city council’s March 22 meeting.
