HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-01-13, Page 6Over 40 per cent of grade eight
students at East Wawanosh Public
School have been drinking unsafe
water at home, an innocent school
project revealed.
Water samples from students'
homes were tested by the Ministry
of Health as a school project and
the results were shocking.
No less than 43 per cent came
back with coliform counts between
11 to 80 which is deemed "unsafe
for drinking unless boiled or treat-
ed" by the Huron County Health
Unit.
Five of the samples came back
with counts over 80.
Even more unnerving was that
three tests came back with unsafe
counts of fecal coliform, indicating
contamination from human or ani-
mal wastes.
"I was surprised at the results,"
admits grade eight teacher, Dave
Bartlett. So was school principal,
The Huron County Board of Edu-
cation has made a commitment to
try for a zero percent increase in
their 1993 budget.
At their Jan. 11 meeting, trustees
were required to set a maximum
budget increase since they'd passed
procedure BP-104-B, Budget—
Process for Setting, at their Decem-
ber meeting.
Continued from page 1'
jointly funded by that group and by
the Blyth recreation committee.
Seaforth District High School
girls trumpet band travelled to
Florida. To help the girls pay for
their trip the Huron County Board
Of Education paid a small portion
of the expenses. The girls also
raised their own money through
various fundraisers.
Brussels Reeve Jack
McCutcheon was named Huron
County warden.
Mrs. Lottie McLellan was elect-
ed president of the ACW executive.
Other officers were: Vice Presi-
Ken Scott.
"It was scary to think all those
kids were drinking that water," he
says. "It made me more conscious
that things can go wrong with well
water."
The class did the test after a rou-
tine water sampling at the school
itself indicated unsafe levels of col-
iform.
The test was performed by the
Huron Count Health Unit which,
according to Public Health Inspec-
tor Phil Paquette, tests school water
regularly.
"The water samples from East
Wawanosh in August were good
and in September, they weren't," he
says.
The actual test results are confi-
dential but Mr. Paquette said the
water was classified "unsafe."
Quickly, the health unit contacted
Mike Rau, plant manager with the
Huron County Board of Education.
Goderich Trustee Norman Pick-
ell asked "Is zero per cent realistic
two years in a row?"
He inquired from Education
Director Bob Allan if trustees
would have to stick to the zero per-
cent come passing of the budget.
Mr. Allan said setting a maxi-
mum increase is only a "guideline"
but that board committees are
dent, Mrs. George Ives; Secretary,
Mrs. John B. Nesbit; Treasurer,
Mrs. Kenneth Taylor; Press
Reporter, Mrs. John B. Nesbit;
Rectory Committee, Mrs. Lottie
McLellan, Mrs. Annie McNichol;
Catering Committee, Mrs. R. Lei-
bold.
Blyth Baintoneers won Chesley
tournament, defeating Mt. Forest,
6-1; Elora, 2-1 and Keady, 1-0.
Tickets for the Lyceum Theatre
in Wingham were $1.50
32 YEARS AGO
January 12;1961
The official opening of the new
Brussels Public School took place
on Friday, Jan. 20th. The guest
Immediately, he called the school
to shut down the water fountains.
Barely an hour later, a contracting
crew was on its way to the school
to "shock" the school well with
chlorine and by 8 a.m., the next
morning, the entire system had
been flushed through with chlorine
to kill all the bacteria.
"Our position is to react quickly
to ensure that schools, operate and
in this case, we didn't lose any.,
school time," states Mr. Rau.
As extra insurance, a chlorinator
was installed in the school at a cost
of $700. It's the third chlorinator to
be installed in Huron County
Schools. Others are in place at
Grey Central and Colborne Public.
It was this series of events which
led Mr. Bartlett to suspect if there
was bacteria in the school well,
there could be in the students' wells
at home.
When the results came in, he sent
letters to parents warning them of
the results.
bound not to make increases. They
could however, put special cost
items under special projects in the
budget.
He also admitted that since the
board doesn't know how much
funding it will receive from the
Ministry of Education, everything
trustees decided concerning the
budget was "speculative."
speaker was Reverend F. G. Stew-
art, D.D. Ribbon cutting ceremony
for the children was at 3 p.m.
At McCutcheon Grocery a tall tin
of Carnation Milk was on sale, two
for 29 cents, two pounds of Crown
Brand Corn Syrup was 29 cents,
Stokely's Tomato Juice, 48 oz., 29
cents and St. Williams Assorted
Jams, 9 oz., two for 39 cents.
Ice cream sold at Cousins Diary
just $3.49 for a 2 1/2 gallon pail.
Blyth Legion was installed on
Jan. 5. Some members were: Don-
ald Sprung, William Riehl, Arnold
Berthot, and Clare Vincent.
A subscription to the Brussels
Post was $2 per year.
Mr. Paquette said there is little
more anyone can do.
"Our premise is that we're here
for consultation and if it's a private
well, it is your decision what to do
with it," he explains. "If you own a
well that serves someone else, then
you have an obligation to provide a
safe water supply."
He too, was surprised by the pro-
ject results, especially since many
of the high bacteria samples came
from drilled wells. Out of the 12
contaminated samples, seven came
from drilled wells.
"I'm always concerned when we
don't get good water from drilled
wells," he says. "It's a sad reflection
on what is happening to the envi-
ronment these days."
However, there are many possi-
ble reasons for the high bacteria
counts, among those being con-
taminated aquifers, faulty well
casings, or surface water contami-
nation.
"An aquifer (underground water
supply) could be contaminated by a
farm, river or sewage disposal sys-
tem," he says. "Another possibility
is that well casings can crack and
rust and allow surface water to
enter a well. It's not abnormal to
see poorly constructed wells in
rural areas."
He's also not ruling out the possi-
bility that the water samples taken
by students were done inaccurately
or contaminated by mishandling of
the bottles.
Moreover, it's been a hard year
on wells due to the amount of rain-
fall, he adds.
Mr. Paquette doesn't know where
the blame rests and says it isn't his
job to find out. His job is to protect
the people who drink the water; it
is the Ministry of the Environment
who looks for causes.
Protecting the people involves
informing people about the dangers
of drinking bacterial infected water.
Fecal conforms in water can
cause typhoid, cholera, hepatitis
and various gastro-enteric diseases
such as those associated with
salmonella.
Mr. Paquette does investigations
on communicable diseases and
though it wasn't confirmed, says he
knows an outbreak of campylobac-
ter disease in the northern part of
the county was caused by unsafe
water.
However, there have been no
reported incidents of disease in
East Wawanosh school children
resulting from unsafe water says
both Mr. Paquette and Mr. Scott.
Water problems are not isolated
to East Wawanosh Twp. alone. A
recent survey commissioned by
Agriculture Canada and coordinat-
ed by the Ontario Soil and Crop
Improvement Association revealed
31 per cent of the 1300 farm wells
tested across the province exceeded
the maximum acceptable for col-
iform bacteria. Twenty per cent
contained fecal coliform bacteria.
In addition, 37 per cent contained
contaminants such as herbicides
and petroleum.
Anyone concerned about water
supply can get water tested for free.
The Huron County Health Unit will
test private wells or provide the
bottle for water samples.
NOTICE
TOWNSHIP OF
EAST WAWANOSH
If any buildings are started
construction without first
obtaining a building permit
application fees for the
building permit will be
doubled.
Arnold Bruce
Building Inspector
Township of East Wawanosh
A look through the years
Water testers
East Wawanosh Public School grade eight students Erin Forrest of RR 3, Wingham (left) and
Becky Van Camp of RR 4, Brussels demonstrate how to take a water sample. The entire
grade eight class had water samples from their homes tested only to discover over 40 per
cent were drinking unsafe water at home.
HCBE tries of 0% increase
Changes to the
Ontario Labour
Relations Act take effect
on January 1, 1993.
Amendments to the Labour Relations Act:
• permit some workers not previously covered by the
act to organize;
• provide new rights and protection to workers who
choose to organize;
• encourage cooperation and consultation in unionized
workplaces;
• put in place new rights and responsibilities for
employers, employees and unions where there is a
labour dispute.
For more information and a free pamphlet on the
Labour Relations Act Reform, call 1-800-267-9517
from anywhere in Ontario or write:
Ministry of Labour
Information Centre
400 University Ave., 1st Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1T7
Ontario
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1993.
School project yields surprising results