The Town of Cobourg and Lakefront Utility Services Inc. are pleased to present to the citizens of Cobourg its annual 2008 and 2009 water report.
Annual 2010 Water Compliance Report
Annual 2009 Water Compliance Report
Annual 2008 Water Compliance Report
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The Province's Drinking Water Protection Regulation requires that we publish this report for your information. Here you will find the water quality data and other information that we are required to collect for the current period.
If you have a question about the Cobourg water system or this report, please call Bruce R. Craig, P. Eng. at 905-372-2193 during regular business hours. All of our plant staff members are licensed operators and members of the Ontario Water Works Association, a section of the American Water Works Association.
Lakefront Utility Services Inc. (LUSI) is contracted by the Town of Cobourg to operate the Water System and is located at 207 Division Street in Cobourg.
WHERE THE WATER COMES FROM
Have you ever really thought about where your water comes from? In Cobourg, we are blessed with a good quality surface water. Our source is Lake Ontario, a large, clear body of water. Our intake is located at a depth of 11 metres, approximately 856 metres from shore at the foot of D'Arcy Street.
The existing water treatment facility was constructed in 1971, with the pumping and chemical feed building being added in 1989. In 1996 the old anthracite filter media was replaced with a new granular activated carbon (GAC). The GAC was installed to eliminate taste and odour problems and reduce the levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), with its superior absorption capabilities.
The Town of Cobourg water treatment plant is capable of producing 8,000,000 gallons of water per day (m/g/d), and services a population of approximately 17,000 people. We have upgraded our water treatment facility many times over the years, some of these upgrades include:
- Installing a cover over the clarifier, this was done as a security measure and also to control algae.
- In1991 we installed a chlorine line at the mouth of the intake pipe to control Zebra mussel infestation on the intake screen. A chlorine residual monitor was also installed at this time to monitor the levels of chlorine.
- In 1993 tube settlers were installed in the clarifier to increase the capacity of the clarifier and to meet filter rated maximum demand.
- in 1999 a supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) was installed to better control the water treatment process.
In the distribution system there are approximately 119 kilometres of various types and sizes of watermains that consist of ductile iron, cast iron, PVC, copper, A.C. pipe and steel. We are continually upgrading our watermain infrastructure, which helps to improve system pressures, flows and water quality.
In the late 1970's the old steel elevated water storage tank was replaced with a composite steel and concrete storage reservoir with a capacity of approximately 293,000 gallons (gal). The distribution system consists of two different zones, zone one and zone two. Zone one is supplied directly from the Water Treatment Plant and is closest to Lake Ontario. Zone two is the area north of the CN tracks and is also supplied from the Water Treatment Plant but passes through a booster station on Division Street. This booster station is needed to boost the pressure in zone two.
In 2000 we constructed a seconded elevated storage reservoir in zone two with a capacity of 821,480 gal. The main reason for the construction of this reservoir is to meet future demands, improve fire protection, and help stabilize pressure.
TERMS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Here are some of the terms you should understand before reading the information below.
DEFINITIONS
MAC
Maximum Acceptable Concentrations . This is a health-related Ontario water standard established for contaminants that have known or suspected adverse health effects when above a certain concentration. The length of time the MAC can be exceeded without injury to health will depend on the nature and the concentration of the parameter.
IMAC
Interim Maximum Acceptable Concentration . This is a health-related Ontario drinking water standard established for contaminates when there are insufficient toxicological data to establish a MAC with reasonable certainty, or when it is not practical to establish a MAC at the desired level.
Parameter
This is a substance that we sample and analyze for in the water.
Mg/l
Milligrams per litre . This is a measure of the concentration of a parameter in the water, sometimes called parts per million (ppm).
WHAT IS IN YOUR WATER?
Some parameters may be present in source water before we treat it. Here is a description of the various groups of parameters.
MICROBIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS such as bacteria may come from sewage plants, livestock operations, septic systems and wildlife. Microbiological quality is the most important aspect of drinking water quality because of its association with dangerous water-borne diseases that can strike quickly.
INORGANIC PARAMETERS such as salts and metals can be naturally occurring or a result of urban storm runoff, industrial or domestic wastewater discharge, mining or agriculture. Some may be a result of treatment and distribution of water (for example, lead from old solder in pipes).
ORGANIC PARAMETERS can be naturally occurring, but most organics of concern are synthetic. They originate from industrial discharges, urban storm runoff and other sources. Included in this group are pesticides that originate from both rural and urban areas. Some may originate from treatment of drinking water (for example, chlorination byproducts such as trihalomethanes).
Our Certificate of Approval for the Water Treatment Plant, issued by the Ministry of the Environment, sets monitoring requirements. The table below summarizes all of the detectable results from monitoring that we are required to do for the current period. The presence of these substances in drinking water does not necessarily mean that the water poses a health risk.
We are required to monitor for some parameters only once a year, so some of the data in the table is several months old, but still representative of the water quality.
DID WE EXCEED THE STANDARDS?
We maintained health-related Ontario Drinking Water Standards over the reported period.
Lakefront Utility Services Inc. is pleased to provide the results of our water quality test by clicking on the link supplied below. You will require the Adobe Acrobat Reader software to open the file. If you do not currently have Adobe Acrobat Reader or if you are unsure, please click the Acrobat Reader link FIRST. This will automatically download the software to your system. Then return to this page and click on the water report link. It will open automatically in Adobe Acrobat Reader for your perusal.
Questions in this regard should be directed to Bruce R. Craig, P. Eng. at (905) 372-2193 during regular business hours.
LICENSED UTIITY OPERATORS FOR THE TOWN OF COBOURG
* Gil H. Clarey, class 3, License No. 4598
* Tim J. Clarey, Class 2, License No. 3363
* Robert Fisher, Class 2, License No. 4280
* Jeffery A. Curtis, Class 2, License No. 2154
* Robert D. Cowin, Class 2, License No. 3777
* Earl B. McGinn, Class 2, License No. 4043
* Richard A. Wright, Class 3, License No. 1996
* James A. McCrory, Class 3, License No. 1997
* John Nowee, Class 3, License No. 1998
Lakefront Utility Services Inc. Water Test Reports Download Acrobat Reader Software Here Copyright @ 2004 Lakeshore Utility Services Inc. All Rights Reserved
