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RESIDENTS
Water Quality It is well known to Canadians that our country holds a large portion of the all the freshwater that exists on our planet. This being the case, it is often easy for us to take for granted the fact that water is just there when we want it. The truth is that while there is a large volume of water in our lakes, rivers and ground, only so much of this is renewed on a yearly basis. Our lakes, rivers and ground water are like bank accounts. If you use more than what is going into the account, then what is there will eventually disappear. The less water that we “spend,” the more water is left in the “accounts” of nature where it can be enjoyed and pay “dividends” in terms of being left to play its natural role in maintaining a healthy planet for us to live on.
Here you can find the following events, regulation and monitoring, facilities, and water awareness FYIs:
Spring Rain Barrel Sale on now! Grey Bruce Children’s Water Festival Lawn & Gardening Water Restrictions Walkerton Clean Water Centre Well Aware Educational Resources for the Rural Well Owner Water Footprint… what is that?
It feels like another year for… Brockton’s Spring Rain Barrel Sale
Harvest rainwater to irrigate your garden, water your lawn, wash cars or windows, hose down the driveway - a good practice with both environmental and financial benefits. Collect hundreds of litres of free water every year, conserving and reducing demand for municipally treated water.
Orders can now be filled out on-line at Walkerton Truckload Sales Event webpage. Pickup days are Friday May 11 (3-7pm) and Saturday May 12 (9am until Noon) at the MTO Yard. No household limits and no residency requirements are imposed however, only barrels ordered in advance are guaranteed to be available. Each rain barrel comes fully equipped with a leaf and mosquito filter basket, an overflow adaptor that permits multiple barrels to be connected in series, 1.2m of overflow hose and a spigot that attaches directly to a garden hose. The price is $50 per barrel. (Additional overflow hose can also be purchased if required.)
Call the Municipality of Brockton 1-877-885-8084 for information not available on the website or if you need assistance with online ordering.
Grey Bruce Children’s Water Festival
This annual event is put on collaboratively by a large number of local organizations who see the benefit of educating students about water in the natural environment, the technology we use around it and the importance of safeguarding this precious resource. Want to know what goes on? Ask the neighbourhood kids what they have learned! Volunteers are also appreciated in running the event. The website is http://www.waterfestival.ca/
Lawn & Garden Watering Restrictions
Water supplied through municipal services is restricted to certain days and times. Here are the appropriate times to water your lawn or garden:
General watering times are from 7am-9am & from 6pm to 9pm. · even numbered addresses are permitted to water their lawns on even days of the calendar, while · odd numbers addresses are permitted to water their lawns on odd days of the calendar
Locations with automated watering systems are allowed to operate on any day, between the hours of 2:30am-6:00am.
Click for full By-Law #2005-23
Regional Water Quality & Watershed Monitoring
Water Quality: Surface and Groundwater Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) conducts regular monitoring of surface water to record long-term trends of physical parameters as well as nutrient and microbiological content (including phosphorus, nitrates, chloride, suspended solids and E. coli). The authority also maintains a series of wells to monitor the quantity and quality of groundwater across its jurisdiction as part of the Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network. Maintaining these long term data sets will enable the Conservation Authority to track causes to surface water quality degradation and the effectiveness of certain conservation efforts in that area, as well as the treatment of groundwater, as it pertains to private wells, drinking water sources protections planning, water allocation and potential climate change impacts.
Watershed Report Cards All Ontario Conservation Authorities (CA) have been responsible for putting out a “Watershed Report Card” as a way for the CAs to distribute information to the public and provide managers with a standard evaluation tool to make decisions. These report cards do not just examine water quality: ecosystem conditions and functions within the watershed are rated for their desirable contributions to watershed health. The SVCA makes available all the report cards for the tributaries within its jurisdiction on its website.
Walkerton Clean Water Centre
This agency of the Government of Ontario was established in 2004 with the purpose of becoming a leader in training and technological development of drinking water systems. The centre coordinates with the industry to ensure accessible training for industry professionals, provides testing and experimentation of water and water processing systems, all with focused problem solving in managing older and smaller, remote systems. The Walkerton Clean Water Centre seeks to be proactive in drinking water research, participating in public education being attentive to accessibility, and willing to provide any sort of service that will help safeguard drinking water. Tours are available, or see website here (519-881-2003).
Well Aware
The Well Aware program is and advisory service run by Green Communities in order to equip private well owners in maintaining and operating their wells so they may have water that is clean, clear and safe to drink. Booking a consultation with a Well Aware advisor means that you will receive a home visit where this advisor will provide you with information on how to protect you well and give you recommendations to help you identify and address potential risks to your well water. This confidential consultation will give you the opportunity to interact with a trained advisor while looking at your own well.
Please contact the local delivery organization to answer any questions. Elora Environment Centre Educational Resources for the Rural Well Owner The Well Aware website has a page of Educational Resources intended to assisting individuals in keeping their private water sources clean. The following are links directly to some of those resource documents.
The basic rural water stewardship check-list (for well owners) is available here. Full .pdf guide to maintaining your well through its lifecycle and the effects of your well on water quality, here. Listing of filter types and what they should remove, here. Tips to conserve water in your home, here. Inspiring your neighbor, here.
Water Footprint
You have likely heard about a carbon footprint, but what is a water footprint? Your water footprint is the volume of water that you “use” in your everyday activities. This not only includes the water that you get from the tap or flush down the toilet, but also the volume of water that it took to grow the cotton in that new pair of jeans you just bought. When you look at the amount of water you use this way, it should come as no surprise that a large percent of the water that we use throughout the day goes into growing the food that we eat. Canada Waterweek 2012 put out a poster to get you thinking about how much water goes into all the things that you use.
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