White Rock residents say whoa! to chloramine
Alliance opposes city plans to disinfect water supply
White Rock residents are protesting the city’s plan to use chloramine to disinfect the municipal water supply, citing concerns about the effects on people’s health, the environment and infrastructure, as well as a lack of public consultation.
“We’re saying we need to have a say in this,” said longtime resident David Riley.
“This is the most complicated issue with the most grey areas that the City of White Rock has ever had to deal with.”
Riley is part of a group called the White Rock Safe Water Alliance, formed over the last couple of weeks with the goal of persuading the city to postpone adding chloramine — a mixture of chlorine and ammonia — to White Rock’s water until there has been open debate and discussion about the topic.
In August 2010, a boil-water advisory was issued for White Rock after coliform bacteria were detected at a water-sampling station.
The advisory lasted 12 days and prompted Fraser Health to order private water supplier EPCOR to add chlorine to the water at one station immediately and treat all of the city’s water by June 30, 2016.
Prior to the 2010 incident White Rock’s water was not treated and most of it remains untreated today.
The city purchased the utility from EPCOR last fall.
At a public forum in October, the city introduced the idea of using chloramine to disinfect the water.
“There was no information or time to do any research,” said resident Andrew Schulz, who was at the forum.
“I didn’t know what chloramine was at the time.”
In December, the city announced it would be using chloramine instead of more commonly used chlorine to disinfect municipal water.
“It’s really troubling how they got to that point, let alone dealt with any of the issues or concerns,” said alliance member Dennis Lypka.
Chloramine has been approved as a disinfection method by Health Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization.
A number of municipalities already use it, including Ottawa, Edmonton and Abbotsford-Mission.
However, residents assert the health impacts have not been studied enough and exposure to chloramine could cause breathing, digestive and skin irritations.
Schulz pointed out the state of Tennessee banned the use of chloramine in tap water.
“There’s got to be a reason for that,” he said.
Residents say chloramine has also been shown to leach lead from pipes, pit copper and break down rubber and plastic. Residents wonder what chloramine-treated water will do to their homes.
Another major issue is what will happen if a water pipe breaks and chloramine-treated water gets into the soil, a river or the ocean. Chloramine takes longer to dissipate than chlorine and has been shown to kill fish and invertebrates.
University of B.C. professor and water treatment expert Madjid Mohseni said it’s important to consider factors such as the low concentration of chloramine in drinking water and the amount of organic material in the water.
He said although chloramine is associated with some specific concerns — including possibly harmful chemical compounds produced by the oxidation process — many of the concerns could also apply to chlorine.
“You’re choosing something that is going to make your water safe to drink and there are challenges,” Mohseni said.
Greg St. Louis, White Rock’s director of engineering and municipal operations, said the city chose chloramine based on the source and composition of White Rock’s water, as well as the recommendation of experts.
“We believe that with the recommendations from staff and external experts, chloramine is the best solution that meets the needs for our secondary treatment here,” St. Louis said.