Vernon Water Quality

[gregzz4]

Hehe, ya, I only get the short-bus report
I'm glad to see you have, at least for a short time, some better water

[mike31154]

Yeah, not sure how long, but out of curiosity I just had a look at the latest report from the Duteau Creek source. Note the difference in TDS! But there are still traces of nasty stuff & the calcium is much lower. Too bad there's not a way to filter everything but the calcium & magnesium out of the Kal Lake water...

Water System: Greater Vernon Water,
Source: Duteau Creek
Facility: Headgates
Sampling Point: Headgates Cl2 bldg (1-1-SR, 5E8D)
Date of Sample: 7/19/2011
INORGANIC, Results (mg/L unless noted)
Aluminum (total) 0.114
Antimony (total) <0.0010
Arsenic (total) <0.0050
Barium (total) <0.050
Boron (total) <0.040
Cadmium (total) <0.00010
Calcium (total) <5.0
Chloride 0.21
Chromium (total) <0.0050
Copper (total) 0.0245
Cyanide (total) <0.01
Fluoride 0.13
Iron (total) 0.31
Lead (total) <0.0010
Magnesium (total) 1.23
Manganese (total) 0.02
Mercury (total) <0.00020
Molybdenum (total) <0.0010
Nitrate (as N) 0.02
Nitrite (as N) <0.01
Potassium (total) 0.8
Selenium (total) <0.0050
Sodium (total) 1.36
Sulphate 3.1
Uranium (total) <0.00020
Zinc (total) <0.040
PHYSICAL, Results (mg/L unless noted)
Alkalinity (Total, as CaCO3) 14.3
Colour 75
Conductivity 38 microS/cm
Hardness (total, as CaCO3) <12.9
pH 7.14
Total dissolved solids/TDS 44
Turbidity 0.9

[gregzz4]

Yipes, that does still add up to a lot of I wouldn't even want to drink that

[mike31154]

Thought I might resurrect this thread for the benefit of those in Vernon who may be affected/interested.

I'm back on the Duteau Creek water source with TDS just measured at 34. Much lower than Kal Lake source which has been shut down due to possible turbidity from milfoil reduction activities in the Lake. Found the info in the Vernon Morning Star paper. This will continue until end March.

Good time to fire up the RODI system, stock up on water with less wear & tear on your membrane.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Yipes, that does still add up to a lot of I wouldn't even want to drink that

It may be argued that certain components (dissolved minerals etc.) in drinking water are beneficial to our health. If not mistaken, 500 TDS is considered the legal limit for water provided for human consumption, potable water in Canada. It's up to the individual to research the water reports from their supplier & decide if they wish to drink it or buy bottled/drink RO. There are plenty of forums etc. full of heated discussions as to what's beneficial & what isn't. Obviously the heavy metals such as lead & mercury are proven bad guys. If you look at the numbers in the Duteau Creek report I posted earlier, most of the larger numbers of elements in the water are things like iron, magnesium, calcium & alkalinity. I don't think any of those are considered harmful.

[mike31154]

Heads up again for all the Vernonites normally on the Kalamalka Lake water source, we're back on the Duteau Creek source at the moment. Softer water! Good time to fire up the RODI system, have a bath/shower, do dishes, laundry etc. Just started up my own RODI after reading the news in the Friday morning paper. Tap water TDS is 64.

[mikellini]

I'm still getting 46 tds, been a good summer for making water

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by mikellini

I'm still getting 46 tds, been a good summer for making water

Depending on where you live in greater Vernon, your default water source is either Duteau Creek or Kalamalka Lake. Most of us in the City of Vernon are on the Kal Lake source unless there is a quality issue, which is not very often. If your TDS is 46 at the moment, you probably live somewhere in Coldstream or outside of the City of Vernon and are on the Duteau Creek source year 'round? I ran my RO/DI a few days ago & the tap water TDS was 174, so no doubt I'm on the Kal Lake source.

This link will allow you to enter your street address to determine which water source you're on under normal conditions.

http://www.rdno.ca/index.php/maps/water-source-map

Even though a pile of money has been spent in recent years to upgrade the Duteau Creek source, due to Interior Health tightening up the rules for potable water, it appears there will be a need to borrow many millions more now to further improve filtration & separate the agricultural/domestic water systems in our area.