raw sewage

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.

Oneida Nation of the Thames tap water different than neighbouring non-Indigenous communities

Oneida Nation of the Thames tap water different than neighbouring non-Indigenous communities

ONEIDA NATION OF THE THAMES — Jennifer George’s home sits on a gravel road that separates this Indigenous community near London, Ont., from the neighbouring township of Southwold. On George’s side of the road, virtually no one trusts the drinking water that flows from the Thames River to their homes. Many have the same 18-litre blue jugs that line the floor of George’s kitchen, ubiquitous sources of water for drinking and cooking.

Raw sewage overflowing into Ontario waterways at alarming rate, watchdog says

Raw sewage overflowing into Ontario waterways at alarming rate, watchdog says

Raw sewage has been overflowing into Ontario's lakes and rivers at an alarming rate and the government is doing little to stop it, the province's environmental watchdog said Tuesday as she laid out broad changes required to help keep waterways clean. Environmental Commissioner Dianne Saxe outlined her concerns and recommendations in an annual report — called Back to Basics — that looked at the state of the province's waterways between April 2017 and March this year. During that time, the report found that raw sewage overflowed into southern Ontario waterways 1,327 times. More than half of those overflows — 766 — were from nearly 60 outdated municipal sewer systems that combine sewage and stormwater.

'It's pretty embarrassing': Winnipeg aims to put less poop in river

'It's pretty embarrassing': Winnipeg aims to put less poop in river

Some 3.2 million litres of raw sewage and rainfall runoff spilled into Winnipeg's river system last month but the incident was unusual only in scope. The amount -- more than an Olympic-sized swimming pool -- was one of the largest spills in years, but was one of about 20 such events that occur each year.

How One Kid Stopped the Contamination of a River

How One Kid Stopped the Contamination of a River

“I had so many questions.” Such as: If the river has poop in it from nearby houses, how many houses? Bowles collected and analyzed water samples, running them through a filter funnel and putting the filter on an enterococci testing card. After 36 hours in an incubator, the colonies of fecal bacteria on the card turn blue. Bowles counted the blue dots. The results revealed levels of fecal contamination above Canada’s federal standards for swimming or boating. Among those sailing the LaHave waters at the time was Bowles’ little brother. Conrad chimed in, “You were mortified.”