The Township of St. Clair was created by the amalgamation of the former Townships of Moore and Sombra. The amalgamated municipality began operation January 1, 2001. The Township of St. Clair owns and operates the water distribution systems of the former municipalities as a single integrated system, and supplies potable water to residents and businesses throughout the new Township. Potable water is purchased from the Lambton Area Water Supply System (LAWSS), which operates a Water Treatment Plant in Sarnia and a trunk distribution system, serving six Lambton County municipalities.

The Township of St. Clair and the LAWSS operate their facilities in accordance with the Provincial Drinking Water Protection Regulation 459/00, introduced in August 2000. The new regulation updated previously voluntary guidelines, and adopted them as legally binding standards, for all publicly operated water systems in the Province. A new requirement introduced with the new standards is the production of quarterly reports outlining the results of water quality testing and general operations of the water supplier.

The quarterly reports and detailed test results are available at the St. Clair Civic Centre, 1155 Emily Street, Mooretown, Ontario. The reports may also be viewed on the Internet at www.twp.stclair.on.ca. Copies of LAWSS test results and reports, and the new regulations and standards are also available for review. If you have any questions concerning this report or the operation of the St. Clair Water System, please call the Co-ordinator of Operations, Terry Selman, or the Director of Public Works, Ron Kerr, P. Eng., at 519-867-2125.

The current water supply system serving St. Clair Township has evolved significantly over the past 50 years. Initially, several of the urban areas developed their own independent water distribution systems. These systems utilized communal wells or the St. Clair River to obtain drinking water. In the early 1950's, with the development of the Shell Canada Refinery, a piped water supply was obtained from the City of Sarnia to service the Shell Refinery and Corunna.

In the early 1970's, the Ontario Water Resources Commission and local municipalities developed an area water system, LAWSS. It supplied treated water to Point Edward, Sarnia, Moore, Sombra and part of Sarnia Township. This system was expanded in the late 1980's to service municipalities in the northeastern part of Lambton County. The LAWSS provided a safe treated water supply to the urban areas of Brigden, Corunna, Courtright, Mooretown, Port Lambton and Sombra Village in the early 1970's. In the late 1980's expansion of the distribution system was begun, to service rural areas of the Township. Today, over 95% of the population is serviced with a piped water supply.

The LAWSS is currently governed by the six member municipalities and operated under contract by the Ontario Clean Water Agency. The Council of the Township of St. Clair controls the St. Clair Water System.

The review of operations resulting from the creation of the new Township of St. Clair will be ongoing for much of this year. The reorganization of meter reading routes and billing cycles has been completed. A significant upgrade of water meters and automated bill processing is planned for later this year. This will reduce meter reading and billing errors and improve customer service.

Preparation of the 2001 Water Budget began this quarter. The final budget and rates for 2001 will be approved by Council during the second quarter. The total annual water budget is approximately $2,000,000.

An application has been submitted to the Province to obtain funding for further improvements to the distribution system. Proposed improvements will extend water mains to unserviced areas and reduce the number of dead-end mains. These improvements will assist in the maintenance of high quality water in the distribution system. We expect to receive a decision on this application during the second quarter. The funding program (OSTAR) is a three-year program, intended to assist small municipalities with improvements to water and sewer systems.

Five additional operations staff received their Operator in Training certification, bringing the total certified staff to fourteen. Training of certified operators is a continuous process designed to ensure the continued delivery of safe drinking water to all customers.

The LAWSS treatment plant is located at the junction of Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. The treatment plant and treatment process currently meet or exceed Provincial standards.

Water is pumped from the St. Clair River and treated using chemically assisted filtration, and disinfection with chlorine. Chemically assisted filtration involves the addition of alum to the source water to combine or coagulate small particles into larger particles, which are then removed by large filters. The filters consist of layers of fine sand and anthracite coal, which effectively remove fine particles and potential contaminants. The filtered water is then disinfected by the addition of chlorine, prior to being pumped into the distribution system. Fluoride is also added to the water to assist with the prevention of tooth decay. The treatment process is continuously monitored, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, to ensure proper treatment and a high quality product.

Testing throughout the distribution system is conducted on a weekly basis for both chlorine residual and microbiological parameters. The maintenance of chlorine residual in the distribution system is one important step used to prevent microbiological contamination of the water supply. Chlorine is added at the treatment plant and at various locations throughout the distribution system to ensure adequate disinfection capabilities are maintained. We are also careful to avoid possible contamination during the repair of broken watermains, the installation of new connections and services, and during routine maintenance.

The table below summarizes the results of distribution system testing conducted from January through March 2001. Monitoring is required only once a year for some parameters, such as lead, so some of the data in the table are several months old. They are still representative of the water quality.

Some parameters may be present in source water before it is treated. Here is a description of the various groups of parameters. The presence of these substances in drinking water does not necessarily mean that the water poses a health risk.

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, which 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).

Here are some terms you should know about before reading the information below.

Maximum Acceptable Concentration. This is a health-related Ontario drinking 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 concentration of the parameter.

Interim Maximum Acceptable Concentration. This is a health-related Ontario drinking water standard established for contaminants 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.

This is a substance that we sample and analyze for in the water

milligrams per litre. This is a measure of the concentration of a parameter in water, sometimes called parts per million (ppm).