Monday, March 11, 2013

chilliwack ~ in the news...

Chilliwack is a Canadian city in the Province of British Columbia. It is a predominantly agricultural community with an estimated population of 80,000 people. Chilliwack is the 2nd largest city in the Fraser Valley Regional District after Abbotsford. The city is surrounded by mountains and recreational areas...lakes and parks. (That according to Wikipedia.)


Chilliwack is known for its water.  Not only is there water rushing down the mountains...in creeks, rivers and waterfalls...but we have had the best tasting untreated drinking water in the country.  Maybe even the world...they say.  That all changed last week.

I ran the tap for a drink one afternoon...and caught a whiff of chlorine.  I dumped the glass of water...and went to the computer to do some research.  Sure enough, as of that day Chilliwack water was being chlorinated.  It seems the 'powers that be' have dictated that our city will add bleach to its water supply...just to prevent anyone from ever getting sick due to water borne bacteria in the future.  We were willing to take that risk.  We do not want bleach in our water.  We have no say...it seems.

Water has been the big news story over here this past week.  Not all news is good news! 
 

There are a few other things making the news in our community as well. I'll take you downtown one of these days.

14 comments:

  1. That is very disappointing Judy. I didn't know their water was unchlorinated until now. We saw Bridal Veil Falls when visiting there in 1976 but not since. Must do that again. I'll look forward to seeing more pics of your downtown. Have a great week! Pamela

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  2. Oh. That does represent a big shift. Our town water has improved over the past decade with the building of a new aquifer; however, prior to that, I'm sure it could have qualified for some of the worst. Our water is chlorinated and it also contains fluoride. We drink bottled water (another bone of contention with many, but my daughter works for one of the very oldest in the country and best known) and use tap water for coffee making so we can be sure to get our fluoride and our chlorine. ☺

    Do you think you'll get used to it? I know that you will certainly miss your fresh and wonderful tasting Adam's Ale.

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    1. I left out words I think...she works for one of the very oldest and best known water bottling companies...

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  3. It really makes one feel helpless and powerless when the health authorities can overrule popular opinion like that. So, what will you be doing now? Filtering? Bottled? Or getting used to the chlorine?

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  4. That is really too bad. I remember growing up on the farm and thinking water tasted so wonderful on the farm. We have well water here and have our water tested each year to be sure that nothing has entered our water supply.

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  5. That would be very aggravating. Nothing down here is untreated, nor does it taste good. Such a shame to do that to perfectly wonderful water like yours.

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  6. Oh no - that is too bad. We have a drilled well and our water is a bit rusty which isn't such a nice flavour either. However, we have installed a Reverse Osmosis system and I love it! No tea stains and the coffee tastes great again!

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  7. It's the saddest thing! When I was visiting last week, you could smell the chlorine coming from the tap! Mess with Mother Nature and she will mess with you!

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  8. Oh no! I'm sure you must taste the difference after having natural water so long. I'm probably used to chorline in the water as I'm sure it was that way in NYC, but I have to say our water here in the Denver area tastes wonderful.

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  9. I'm sorry for you! I'd be upset too! We are still enjoying good well water, but who know how long that will last?

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  10. I know that must be difficult for you all out there. For us, it is a part of daily life. But, whenever I see your gorgeous park, mountain, and water pictures, I want to continue to believe that it is all fresh natural water for you. It only seems right.

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  11. We get our water from a well...living over a rather large aquafier we in Chesterfield County consider ourselves lucky to have a choice between chemical water and pure water...I choose the pure...

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  12. Someone here was asking me if I knew heard the Chilliwack news yet!

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  13. Looks like we were gone during this big broadcast...but watched from afar.
    I think I would run to the barn for our drinking water as we have a well.
    But it looks like things are beginning to be resolved.

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