Editor,
Observing the drumbeat of both pro and con missives relating to the proposed Pumped Storage project that as we all know will take water from Georgian Bay and put this very same water back the following day, perhaps some perspective of what our Georgian Bay water resource has been and continues to be subject to, in terms of both environmental and human utilization.
Our Owen Sound neighbour, as an example, with a population of close to 25,000, has been drawing its water supply from Georgian Bay for decades. The average per-capita water use in Ontario is in the range of 300-400 litres per day which translates to an intake of around 300 million litres per month for this city. Approximately one third of Owen Sound’s raw sewage and storm-water was dumped directly into Georgian Bay as recently as 2017, prior to the treatment plant expansion and upgrade projects. While this current output is now treated by the Municipality, a chemical analysis of this post treatment waste water would contain a good representative portion of the periodic table elements – trace amounts of bacteria, phosphates and chlorine being predominant. Most of our other shoreline communities, Meaford included, have the very same processes.
All the rivers that began flowing into Georgian Bay at the end of the ice age, have carried soil, vegetation and animal material runoffs on a continual basis and have been a significant contributor to the creation of this body of water. Since the beginning of human settlement, urbanization and agricultural activity, this outflow has added sewage, fertilizers, pesticides and huge amounts of topsoil. While both the concentration and usage of agricultural chemicals has been reduced through regulation, the river-borne outflow of all this material is significant and none of this material is treated in any way – just have a look at the bay after a good rainfall – there’s some turbidity for you. This is an ongoing water flow that occurs 24/7, 365 days a year.
Living on a waterfront shoreline certainly provides a unique setting and picturesque views for those able to afford the accompanying property values, and outside of the urban towns and cities, our southern Georgian Bay shoreline is lined with private residences ranging from modest cottages to luxurious mansions, all of these using a variety of septic systems that marginally treat the related wastewater, but do release significant bacterial waste through their leaching beds into the adjacent beach-side water. Collectively this output of rivers, streams, both municipally treated sewage and marginally regulated private residential sewage, continues to put an ever-increasing volume of pollutants into our lake waters.
John Richardson, Meaford
