After a month of complaints about brown water flowing from taps, residents in the west end of St. John’s finally have some clarity on what exactly is wrong with their water supply.
Mayor Danny Breen, flanked by city manager Kevin Breen and deputy city manager LynnAnn Windsor, told reporters on Tuesday the primary issue is a naturally occurring spike in the metal manganese in the water supply.
“We expect that it’s only been in the water at higher-than-acceptable levels for maybe the past month or so. It is sporatic. It’s not consistent. It’s at different areas of the Petty Harbour Long Pond water supply area,” said Windsor.
“What we’re finding is one day you might have discoloured water, the next day it’ll be clear. It’s not consistent above the acceptable levels.”
In terms of the exact cause of the higher levels, Windsor says the investigation is ongoing, but she expects it’s a natural source, not due to decaying water pipes.
“The long-term fix will be adding additional water treatment technology to the water treatment plant. The short-term fix, we are looking at doing some cleaning of the water distribution mains in the affected areas. Hopefully that’ll help the situation,” she said.
Windsor could not offer any timeline for when the manganese issue will be resolved.
The affected area is supplied by the Petty Harbour Long Pond water supply. Residents from Stanley’s Lane in Kilbride to Leslie Street in St. John’s are feeling the effects of the increased presence of manganese.
Health Canada says manganese is a naturally occurring element that is produced from natural sources (such as rock and soil erosion) or from human activities (mining, landfill leaching, etc.).
While the metal is generally harmless, infants can be harmed by extended exposure. Health Canada says the maximum level is 0.1 milligram per litre of water. The city estimates some readings as high as 0.2 milligrams per litre have been found in recent months.
Infants exposed to higher levels can see negative neurological effects.
The city is going to open water stations around the city, the first being at the city depot on Blackler Avenue, where residents are encouraged to get their drinking water. More water stations will be opened in the coming days, with information coming on the city’s website.
“Generally, if you have no discolouration in your water, your water is fine. If you have discolouration and you’re on the Petty Harbour Long Pond system, then you should avoid using the water,” said Mayor Breen.
Breen says there have been no complaints about water from the other water supplies around the city.
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