Ottawa, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/28/2015 -- On January 20, 2015, there were 1,343 water advisories across Canada, some 400 fewer than there were seven years ago. According to an report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal - which was based on Water Today's advisory maps - there were 1,766 boil water advisories in April 2008.

"While this is a step in the right direction", says Water Today Publisher, Josee Dechene, for a country with the third largest renewable water reserves in the world, it's hardly stellar."

Closer scrutiny of the numbers reveals that while some provinces have less boil water advisories, others have more. In fact, the decline can be attributed almost entirely too one province, Ontario, where the number of advisories tumbled from 670 to 64.

This is largely due to the fact that Ontario no longer publishes advisories in small drinking water systems, such as daycares, residences, restaurants and campgrounds, which made up the bulk of the advisories in 2008. According to the Ontario Drinking Water Advisory Council (ODWAC), as of December 2011, there were 10,106 systems identified as falling under the Small Drinking Water Systems Program. Out of these 6,990 had been assessed as to the risk they pose. with 15% or over a 1,000 systems being categorized as high risk

This being said, there are improvements in the management of drinking water in Canada.

The Walkerton, Ontario tragedy in May 2000 - where seven people died after E.coli bacteria made its way into the town's water system ­ - was a definitely a wake­-up call.

Fearing liabilities, provinces and territories scrambled to review their policies and enacted new drinking water regulations. All drinking water system were inventoried ; at-­risk water systems identified ; and procedures and operator certification more clearly defined.

What with administrative delays, program changes and changes in government, it is taking years to see improvements, but these initiatives are slowly starting to pay off.

Meanwhile, closer monitoring and better reporting have led to an increase in the number of advisories in provinces such as Saskatchewan , from 126 to 257, and Manitoba, from 59 to 155, but it should also be noted that both these provinces rigorously publish advisories for both municipal and smaller drinking water systems.

Where there is is definite improvement is in Newfoundland Labrador where the number of advisories decreased from 228 to 172 , most of these being in small communities; and Nova Scotia where the numbers went from 67 to 32, all of which are in small individual systems.

The Government of Canada's annual Gas Tax Fund for municipal infrastructure is helping. It was created to provides predictable, long term funding for Canadian municipalities to help them build and revitalize their local infrastructure .

Though municipalities lament that the funds are inadequate to meet the increased needs of ageing infrastructure and emerging chemical and pharmaceutical contamination, the Gas Tax Fund has made $15 billion available to support municipal infrastructure to date.

About Water Today
WATER TODAY is an independent media about water in Canada. Formerly The Water Chronicles, it is built on an 8-year tradition of fair reporting, investigative journalism, and punctual water advisory monitoring.

For information
Josee Dechene
Publisher
613-501-0175
Water Today
Ottawa, ON
info.watertoday.ca

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Ottawa, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/23/2014 -- The Water Chronicles at water.ca is pleased to announce a first in Canada, a newspaper dedicated exclusively to water and water issues, right here at home.

Mainstream media is not giving Canadians the real information they need about life's most precious resource, water. That's why our first print edition comes out in Ottawa on Canada Day, July 1, 2014.

There are over 1,400 water advisories on any given day across Canada. With new pipelines looming on the horizon, increasing train safety issues and crumbling municipal infrastructure, Canadians want more on the ground information about what affects their water.

The effects of climate change on our water threaten not only our futures but those of our children. Ocean rising, blue-green algae, the Great Lakes under duress, runoff contamination, and flooding the likes of which we have never seen before, all deserve more than a passing media glance when emergencies occur.

For 7.9 years, the Water Chronicles has covered these issues online and now we are pleased to launch a national newspaper featuring water news from coast to coast to coast.

We wish to thank to the advertisers who made this possible: Aqua Treatment Technologies, Canada Ionizers, Clearflow Environmental Systems, Dagua Treatment Plants, Dependable Trucks and Tanks, Filterco, Graystone Environmental, Mobetta Water, Murrenhil Corporation, Orival Filters, Pinnacles Environmental Technologies, Pro Flow Plumbing, Renu Water, R&H Distributing, Wahl Water, and Water Solutions.

If you would like to subscribe to the newspaper or arrange to distribute it to your organization, email info.water.ca@gmail.com

Media Contact :

1 Rideau Street
#700
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 8S7
Waterca Inc.
613-670-5771
Josee Dechene
jmdechene@gmail.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Ottawa, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/16/2014 -- Among the 16 Boil Water Advisories (BWA) issued last week, there was one for Kernested Subdivision issued by the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority, in Manitoba on June12.

According to a government spokesperson, Kernested is a subdivision of The Narrows on Lake Manitoba. The advisory was due to the absence of disinfection in the community's water system, and it affects 100 people.

The thing is, we can't find Kernested anywhere. Neither Wikipedia, nor Google maps nor even Manitoba maps have any information on its location.

We did find a Kernsted Beach within the rural municipality of Siglunes which is 36 km from The Narrows on Lake Manitoba. Perhaps this is where our 100 people should be boiling their water. It is where 100 people had to be evacuated during the flood of 2011 which brought Lake Manitoba's water levels to their highest levels in 50 years.

According to a CBC report on June 13, 2011, "At least 260 properties were put under mandatory evacuation in the Rural Municipalities of Coldwell, Siglunes, Eriksdale and Grahamdale. Of that, more than 100 properties were in Siglunes on Kernsted Beach and Miss Ellie Drive east of the Lake Manitoba Narrows."

If this is where our boil water advisory is, it is located 75 km northwest of the province's capital, Winnipeg. Need one be reminded that Canada is a vast and sparsely populated country?

About the Water Chronicles
The Water Chronicles is an independent for profit media dedicated to all things water. Alongside daily news bytes, articles, reports and interviews, the site features interactive maps pinpointing all water advisories across the country, and a comprehensive sector directory. Visit us at: www.water.ca or contact us at: info.water.ca@gmail.com

Media Contact :

Waterca Inc.
1 Rideau Street,#802
Ottawa, Ontario,K1N 8S7
Canada
water.ca
Josee Dechene/Owner
dechene.water@gmail.com

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Ottawa, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/09/2014 -- The Water Chronicles, the source for daily water news and boil water advisories in Canada, announced today that June 2014 marks the 7.9 year anniversary of its launch.

It was in June 2006, that the Water Chronicles advisory maps were first posted at water.ca, after months of research and data entry in a makeshift office in Ottawa West

Since then, national and provincial maps have been updated every day as soon as water advisories are issued, thousands of water advisories have been posted, and Canadians across the country have been advised of boil water advisories in their town or neighbourhood.

Publisher Josee Dechene said, "For the Water Chronicles June 2014 has a very special meaning; we set the milestone with the understanding that by then water would be a top of mind topic, most relevant to Canadians. We can now say that water.ca is one of the premier water research sites in the country and our boil water advisory maps one of the most researched and proven water tools available.

Today, along with our water advisory updates, the Water Chronicles features daily briefs on water advisories and the towns and people they affect; in-depth articles on topics ranging from municipal drinking water, First Nations Water, the Arctic, climate change, the water/energy nexus and industrial contamination.; as well as investigative reports and interviews with experts, most recently IPCC Nobel prize winners Virginia Burkett and James Bruce.

To celebrate its 7.9 year anniversary, the Water Chronicles wishes to thank the thousands of Canadians who have signed up for free email alerts and the advertisers who helped along the way and continue to lend their support to fair water reporting. They include: Riverdale Water Management, Clearflow Environmental Systems, Aqua Treatment Technologies and Wahl Water.

About the Water Chronicles
The Water Chronicles is an independent for profit media dedicated to all things water. Alongside daily news bytes, articles, reports and interviews, the site features interactive maps pinpointing all water advisories across the country, and a comprehensive sector directory. Visit us at: www.water.ca or contact us at: info.water.ca@gmail.com

Media Contact :

Robert Brouse
The Water Chronicles
Waterca Inc
Josee Dechene/Owner
1 Rideau Street #700
Ottawa, Ontario,K1N 8S7,Canada
1-613-670-5746
www.water.ca

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm