Arsenic levels in Virden’s drinking water are once again a concern, two years after Virden Town Council declared victory over the naturally-occurring poison.
The 2017 Drinking Water report was released in April and showed that Virden’s tap water exceeded the allowable limit for arsenic (0.01 mg/L as set by Health Canada) 11 tests out of 17. The highest reading was 72 per cent above the allowable limit; the lowest was a small fraction above, with most readings somewhere in between.
When the Virden Empire-Advance made inquiries with town council about those results, the report was removed from the Town’s website.
The removal of the report was followed shortly after by a provincial investigation.
Investigation
Representatives from the provincial Office of Drinking Water (ODW) based in Winnipeg came to Virden to look into the arsenic problem on Monday, May 7.
A spokesperson for the agency said they reviewed “the treatment process, sampling locations and the published annual report.”
Based on their investigation, the ODW updated the arsenic chart that originally appeared in the Town’s 2017 drinking water report. But the revised chart (see image) shows there was still too much arsenic in the water ten times out of 15.
The Town’s Utilities Manager Dale Wallace appeared before council May 15 to deliver a statement about what happened.
Filter problems
In the statement, Wallace says there were problems with the greensand filters, which had been installed in March 2016 to bring arsenic levels down to acceptable levels.
They did the job for a few months but by Jan. 2017, the filters “started to have occasions where we were not in compliance,” says Wallace’s report.
Those problems continued off and on for the rest of that year.
Even though the arsenic was recognized as a problem in January 2017, the Mayor and Council weren’t told until May 3, 2018 - 16 months later.
Mayor Jeff McConnell said, “Staff have reviewed how this occurred and have identified that council should have been notified at an earlier time.”
Public not informed
When asked why the public has never been notified of the situation so they can adjust their water consumption habits, he told the Empire-Advance, “Manitoba Health would have advised the Town if a public advisory was required. It was not in this case.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the ODW to the Virden Empire-Advance said, “The community should be able to bring results back below the standard on a more consistent basis as the operational changes are implemented.
“The Office of Drinking Water will be monitoring the situation to ensure that consistent compliance with the arsenic standard is achieved.”
Recommendations
Wallace says the Office of Drinking Water has made a few recommendations to the Town to help resolve the problem:
-Backwash (flush out) the water filters more often so they don’t get overloaded.
-Change to a different water treatment chemical (ferric chloride instead of ferric sulphate).
-Continue testing the water for arsenic.
Backgrounder
Arsenic is a naturally occurring contaminant in ground water and a known human carcinogen. It appears in relatively high amounts at the well source of Virden’s water and must be removed during the treatment process.
The Town struggled for many years to bring the amount down to acceptable levels. It installed a reverse osmosis system at the water treatment plant in 2009. Arsenic levels met the standard for a time but then began inching upwards.
Health Canada then reduced even further the acceptable amount of arsenic in drinking water (0.01 mg/L), putting the water out of compliance once again and prompting a drinking water advisory in 2012.
Virden invested in the greensand filtration system, installed in March 2016.
After several months of testing, the Town announced the system was successful at bringing arsenic levels below the 0.01 mg/L limit. The “mission accomplished” council meeting photo was taken in May, 2016.
To see the revised 2017 Annual Drinking Water Report on the Town’s website, go to Virden.ca and navigate to Government / Municipal Services / Water & Wastewater. Copies are also available at the Town office.
