By Julian Branch It has been almost two-years since CTV’s W5 aired a segment on asbestos cement water mains in Canada. What has happened since has turned out to be expected, perplexing, and quite troubling. The investigative news report painted a disturbing picture of a lot of asbestos cement pipe in Canada, as well as […]
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Asbestos Cement Water Pipes – Should We Be Concerned?
The 1930s were an exciting time for water infrastructure in North America. A new type of water pipe had been introduced in Canada and the United States just a year earlier. Asbestos cement (AC) water pipe was billed as cheaper, lightweight, and seemingly impervious to deterioration. Over the next few decades, the use of the […]
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Flushing Our Environment Down the Drain
When one considers the source of water pollution, industrial operations quickly come to mind. However, municipal wastewater effluents are also a significant source of contamination. In fact, some pollutant levels in these effluents have been found to be many times higher than those in untreated industrial wastewaters. Although many municipalities utilize advanced processes to treat […]
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Are Those Cheap Hamburgers Killing Our Streams?
Intensive livestock operations, feedlots, concentrated animal feeding operations, or factory farms; whatever you chose to call them, they produce most of the meats we consume. In an effort to increase profits and decrease costs, producers are replacing many small livestock operations with fewer larger ones. These huge operations can have tens of thousands of animals […]
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PPCPs Are Turning Our Water Into Chemical Soup
Studies undertaken in several countries have detected a wide range of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP’s) in surface water, groundwater, and even drinking water systems. The levels of these chemicals appear to be relatively low, however, due to their reactive nature, continual presence in the environment, and unknown effects on both humans and aquatic […]
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Lawn Perfection or Environmental Protection?
If you drive through many neighbourhoods, you are likely to see yards, parks, and golf courses sporting the so called ‘perfect lawn.’ It’s a large expanse of lush weed-free green grass that is the pride and even obsession of many homeowners. Although this form of landscaping may be aesthetically pleasing to many people, it’s often […]
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