Water Services

While annoying, discoloured water can be part and parcel of seasonal variations in your treated drinking water source.  There can be seasonal variations in the causes related to temperature and aeration.  These causes are not always treatable nor are they a cause for alarm.  In past years, naturally occurring manganese has been a principal cause.  While not ideal, discolourization does not mean the water is in any way unfit for consumption (there is a federal aesthetic objective of 0.02mg/l for manganese while the drinking water health guideline is 0.12mg/l). The priority for treatment is water safety for consumption, not its aesthetic appearance. If you have concerns about what the colour might mean, please contact Utilities about arranging a sample for a chlorine residual test at no charge.  

Surface water bodies (lakes, rivers, and reservoirs) contain natural bacteria and algae that produce geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB). Geosmin is a natural bicyclic terpene with an earthy odor.  If water levels are low and aeration is poor (late summer /early fall, drought), the concentrations are higher in the source water so the taste and odour of “earth” becomes much more evident.  Most of the Town's water comes from Mosquito Creek and is stored in a reservoir, so we are going to encounter geosmin here in Nanton.

Chlorine is the principal treatment of water-borne bacteria and contaminants that have historically caused serious illnesses like cholera and E. Coli.  The more bacteria that lives in the raw water, the greater the level of chlorine demand treatment required to make the water safe.

Chlorine is the principal treatment of water-borne bacteria and contaminants that have historically caused serious illnesses like cholera and E. Coli.  The more bacteria that lives in the raw water, the greater the level of chlorine demand treatment required to make the water safe.

These communities tend to either draw their raw water from groundwater sources or already have treatment process in place like improved aeration and activated carbon filtration.  The Town does not have access to significant groundwater resources that could replace Mosquito Creek.

There are a variety of measures that can be implemented, the most cost effective being:

• a jug water filter that can sit in the fridge
• allowing water to stand for a time to allow chlorine to naturally dissipate
• running the tap  for a few minutes to let high discolourization pass.