A plastic bottle crinkles in Deanna Starlight’s hand. She holds it up while standing in her home in Tsuut’ina Nation. “We normally have porridge every day,” she said. “One of these (bottles of water) takes a porridge.” Bottled water has become a life source for the family; they even use it to cook with. Starlight estimates they spend up to $800 a month on bottled water, either in big plastic jugs or little bottles like the one she has in her hand. “At one point there was 22 of us, you know, downstairs another family down there and here. A lot of water, a lot of water,” said Starlight, who is an elder in the community.
Canada just cut the amount of lead allowed in water in half — here's what it means
For the first time almost three decades, Health Canada has updated its guideline for lead in drinking water — cutting the acceptable concentration of the metal in half. The decision is based on the latest science, according to the government body, which worked with the provinces and territories to reduce the maximum acceptable concentration from 0.01 mg/L, set in 1992, to 0.005 mg/L.
Our national shame: The racism inherent in our First Nations water crisis
There is also concern the changes that were made that allowed some of the advisories to be lifted were just temporary fixes. There are long-term, structural problems with the water treatment systems in many Indigenous communities that have not been addressed. Many of these places lack the proper equipment needed to remedy the operational issues with which they are confronted.
Get the lead out: City homes will be affected by new Health Canada regulations on lead in water
Looming changes to Health Canada’s acceptable concentration levels of lead in drinking water could see a wash of city homes creep above the recommended level, Epcor warned city council’s utility committee Thursday. Presently, it’s considered safe to have up to 10 micrograms per litre in drinking water. But Epcor officials said Thursday that the federal health agency is signalling it will lower that level to five micrograms per litre, a change that will affect more than 30,000 Edmonton homes.