Water quality tops

By Dan Hilborn
Published July 5, 2006


Go ahead and drink the tap water - it's the best of its kind in the world.

That was the word from city council last week as they approved the 2005 annual drinking water quality report for Burnaby.

The 2.5-centimetre-thick document, which shows the results of 2,229 water sample test results taken from 60 different test locations in Burnaby, indicates that the overall quality of drinking water in the city continues to improve.

"We have amazingly good water quality," said Coun. Garth Evans, a lawyer who serves on the B.C. Medical Association's water quality subcommittee.

The biggest problem, according to Evans, is turbidity - defined as a sediment that clouds the water but does not necessarily impact human health - while the presence of E. coli and other contaminants that could affect human health were found to be "very low."

One small neighbourhood at the top of Centennial Way on Burnaby Mountain did not meet the minimum requirement for chlorine residual in their water - the Canadian standard calls for a minimum of 0.2 mg/ L - prompting council to approve the installation of an ultraviolet disinfectant system for the area.

The report stated that all the samples taken complied with the bacteriological water quality guidelines, and there were no fecal coliform found in any of the drinking water samples, said the report. While coliform were found in some of the filters used throughout the city, those areas had their water pipes immediately flushed and resampled.

Council was very happy with the report. Mayor Derek Corrigan, a former chair of the GVRD water board, said water quality in the Lower Mainland will only continue to improve after the $600 million Seymour filtration system is operational in two years.

And Coun. Lee Rankin had said the Lower Mainland's water is so good, that there's no reason for anyone to drink bottled water. "My advice is to save those bottles and fill them up with tap water," Rankin said. "Do that, and you're actually protecting your health."