High fluoride levels in Alberta hamlet's drinking water

Kneehill County has completed a water study in Wimborne with CIMA+ a Canadian engineering company, to test the fluoride levels in the hamlet's drinking water.

At the Tuesday, May 28, regular council meeting, council members were presented with a request for decision from manager of environmental services John McKiernan, to accept the hamlet of Wimborne's fluoride reduction study as information.

The hamlet, which is about 127 kilometres northeast of Calgary, has always had high levels of naturally occurring fluoride.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The test results from the study indicate that an average of 2.00 mg/L of fluoride is in the reservoir. The maximum allowable concentration (MAC) is 1.5 mg/L of fluoride.

Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) removed an exemption put in place for the naturally occurring fluoride in places exceeding the MAC in groundwater. The AEP communicated to the County to complete the study and determine the options and costs to treat the fluoride.

Based on the review from CIMA+ there are more than a few options for fluoride reduction in the reservoir.

The first would be to spend an estimated $654,000 on upgrades to the current pump house and adding reverse osmosis (RO), which is effective in removing minerals and elements.

The water then, lacking the micro elements, would be treated by blending the water with untreated water that has not been through RO. This would be a safe and the most cost effective solution.

The other options would be to install a point-of-use treatment system in each household, have potable water delivered at a cost of $150,000 per year, or to build a $2.5-million water extension line from Torrington to the pump house/reservoir in Wimborne.

McKiernan is looking for feedback from Council about his feasibility study and would look into grant opportunities to secure funding if council wishes to move ahead with any of the proposed solutions.

“We have had conversations about what is the long term plan that Kneehill County has for the future of Wimborne, and what that looks like in terms of development and opportunities,” said Reeve Ken King at the meeting.

“I think we might need to have a conversation prior to making any major commitments.”