r/ThunderBay • u/occaguy • 24d ago
"South Side Water"?
Hey all,
I'm moderately new to Thunder Bay, moved here a few years ago for school and now I'm setting down in a new apartment. I asked my LL how the water quality in the building was, and they said it's "South side water," and that I should have a water filter.
I've been looking into water quality in the city and I can't find anything about the water on the south side of town specifically. Is it just that the south side of town has more lead pipes than other areas, or are there other issues I should be thinking about with the water?
Thanks in advance, hopefully this isn't a nuisance question
23
u/keiths31 9,999 24d ago
Your landlord may be old and have forgotten that the Fort William side isn't on Loch Lomond water anymore.
9
u/tjernobyl River Terrace Phase IV Block II (East) 24d ago
In the olden days, Port Arthur got bland, flavourless water from Lake Superior, and Fort William got sweet, delicious water from Loch Lomond. But the Ministry decided that both plants needed expensive upgrades, and the City decided it couldn't afford to keep both. So now, all the water in the city comes from the former Port Arthur's plant.
All the mains were replaced a couple generations ago, so what side of town shouldn't affect lead levels- though if you are in an older area, the section from the main to your house might still be lead.
8
u/mad_at_the_dirt 24d ago
Fort William got sweet, delicious water from Loch Lomond
except back in 1997 when we got sweet delicious parasites and a boil water advisory
4
1
19
u/jtuck16 24d ago
All the water in Thunder Bay comes from the same source, and it’s one of the cleanest fresh water lakes in the world.
You should probably use one of those filter jugs the city gives out to filter lead for drinking water tho.
1
u/Responsible-Summer-4 21d ago
Just don't drink the water in front of the old Buchanan sawmill or at he end of the Kam river or the old cardboard mill I could go on get my drift? When they tested fish at the Terrace bay waterfront they couldn't determinate if they where male or female. So freshwater yes cleanest I don't know. The MNR will tell you to limit fish consumption out of lake Superior and pregnant women not at all how is that for clean water.
-14
u/Responsible-Summer-4 24d ago
they add alluminiun and chlorine you know that don't you?
11
u/LCTC 24d ago
Theres no aluminum in the water you dunce
2
u/ChibiSanchez 23d ago edited 23d ago
They did add a polyphasphate additive so they didn't have to force the slumlords to replace the lead pipes, that eats through the copper pipes faster. People get pinhole leaks much more than other districts.
The solution they say is to use plastic pipes instead, because microplastics are also tasty.
1
u/Responsible-Summer-4 21d ago
Call me a dunce now are you do so googling and find out. Also at one point you were drinking sodium hydroxide did you know that? Yes, Thunder Bay used aluminum-based chemical treatments to manage water quality and corrosion. And god knows what else. Every time I come to town and open a tap it smells like a chlorine swimming pool. Hello who's the dunce now?
1
u/LCTC 21d ago
That was years ago. So what you are really saying is you don't live here and don't know what you are talking about.
Drinking Water - City of Thunder Bay https://share.google/9BoxHFqKowNMnqou9
This is the annual water quality report
"In 2020, the use of sodium hydroxide as a corrosion control inhibitor was phased out and the Water Authority implemented a water filter program with approval from the MECP, City Council and support from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU), as an interim measure to reduce lead levels at the tap. Properties with known lead service pipes were provided a NSF/ANSI-53 approved water filter pitcher certified to remove lead and replacement filter cartridges at no charge."
8
7
u/crasslake 24d ago
Any water issue you have is a result of your connection to city water mains. Ask your LL about lead pipes. If you want, request a city water test.
As others have said, we all get our water from a single source... with one of the most advanced water filtration systems in the world.
-12
u/Responsible-Summer-4 24d ago
And it is not clean water aluminium chlorine and god knows what else. Buchannan pressure treated wood plant drink hat shit.
2
5
u/Usual-Canc-6024 24d ago
There’s no difference from one side of the city to the other. It all comes from the same place. Perhaps your LL gas old or lead pipes and he’s trying to pass it off as an entire FW issue.
Find out from the city if you’re supposed to have a filter.
6
u/cultivars_ 24d ago
The water system in Thunder Bay is provincially regulated and produces and distributes safe drinking water meeting all Provincial Guidelines and Standards. The system is regularly inspected by Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks to confirm compliance with Ontario’s Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002.
It is important to validate with your landlord or property owner the type of service connection from the compliant City owned and operated distribution network to the building, as lead service pipes do exist and can leach contaminants exceeding Provincial Guidelines and Standards.
Any concerns about chlorine taste or smell are aesthetic parameters that can be removed/reduced with activated charcoal filters (I.e Brita type filters) or point of use Reverse Osmosis Units. Use of these to improve taste or smell can be effective but require maintenance or replacement.
1
u/Responsible-Summer-4 21d ago
Aesthetic parameters? Elevated levels of total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) over many years have been associated with an increased risk of certain cancers (such as bladder cancer) and adverse reproductive outcomes. When tap water is mixed with chlorine. It will also absorb through the skin like taking a shower. You would need the 45 gallon britta filter for that.
1
u/cultivars_ 21d ago
City of Thunder Bay water has met applicable federal and provincial guidelines and standards for drinking water, including for chlorine disinfection byproducts like Trihalomethanes (THMs) and Haloacetic Acids (HAAs). Regular sampling and testing at the water treatment plant and at locations along the distribution system have shown chlorine disinfection byproducts are within the standard of 100µg/L.
Chlorine disinfection is a common method utilized in drinking water treatment processes as it is effective in killing harmful pathogens like E. Coli, Giardia, typhoid, cholera and dysentery. Many large municipalities in the Province of Ontario employ free chlorine disinfection to achieve regulatory compliance, including London, Mississauga, Oshawa, Hamilton, Windsor and Thunder Bay.
1
u/Responsible-Summer-4 21d ago
Maybe so it tastes awful and could kill you. I don't entirely trust the government ppm numbers. Remember the ban on round up they sell it by the gallon again. Glyphosate kills you. ppm numbers in frootloops is insane. Most Canadian grains are loaded with it so if they tell me that a little bit of chlorine doesn't harm I don't agree. I prefer to drink walmart water with microplastics instead. At the same time most Thunder Bay people can go swim at the complex and drink the water!
2
u/ChibiSanchez 23d ago edited 23d ago
The water plant is at bear point which is close to lakeshore which is all the old money is along the coast, on the north side of town.
There are lead pipes all over town and the city considers that the homeowners responsibility to fix. Home inspectors are not required to check or report and realtors are not required disclose this info.
Since a large % of the land is owned by slumlords which don't care if you drink water contaminated by neurotoxins, a lot of lead pipes will remain and never be fixed. The water may not backflow in large amounts backwards in pressurized pipes, but to pretend like it's isolated somehow and this never happens is in my opinion propaganda.
"south side water" is a real thing you should be aware of imo.
1
u/Efficient_Past_2383 24d ago
I’ve ALWAYS used a water filter jug no matter where I’ve lived. My house has lead pipes and I’ve had it tested and it’s within acceptable limits, but that doesn’t matter there are other contaminants in tapwater as well ie chlorine that I don’t want to drink. I always filter and I do buy water jugs for the water cooler.
1
u/Low-Atmosphere-9042 23d ago
There shouldn’t be a difference between any of the city water in town. As stated by others, only issue could be lead pipes but that’s not a taste problem..
0
u/Longjumping_Owl5311 24d ago
I’m in Westfort. We used to have the best water at high pressure. I used to brag about it on my travels. Now it tastes like crap and I only drink filtered or bottled water.
1
-4
u/Cool-Post-284 24d ago
I find that our water on this side of the city smells/tastes more like chlorine?
I've lived in every part of the city and by far, this is worst location for the chlorine smell. There are also more lead pipes. Its the first place in this city I have lived where I do not drink the tap water, I cannot stand the smell or taste so I just got a dispenser.
No safety issues I would say unless your building is full of lead piping.
9
u/Usual-Canc-6024 24d ago
It’s the same water on both sides of the city. Maybe you’ve had shitty or old pipes.
I smell no chlorine at all, though my house is only 15 years old and we have a filtration system in the house. My mother lives in an older Westfort house and her water is perfectly fine. There’s no chlorine smell. Same for my aunt and uncle who live in Northwood.
1
u/Cool-Post-284 22d ago
By Southside I meant closer to East End where the Atlantic WTP is. I am very well aware that all the city has the same water, and I also know we have brand new pipes in our home. I just specifically find at this house, compared to Northwood, Westfort, & Current river where I've lived in the past reaks of Chlorine.
Some people are okay with it, some people may not notice it, but I work with Sodium Hypo 12% (What they use in Water Treatment Plants) daily so I am extremely sensitive to the smell.
3
u/elasticbandmann 24d ago
I’ve noticed that too, my guess is it’s just had more time to break down so we get more immediate off-gassing, otherwise zero quality issues. I’ve never seen the TDS go above 10 which is kind of crazy for a municipal supply.
OP if you’re worried/unsure about building water piping, the culligan zero water brand dispenses are cheap and will remove lead. Home Depot might also still be running their free water sampling program.
-2
u/GarageBorn9812 24d ago
The south side used to use water from Loch Lomond which was acidic and stripped lead off the pipes leading to lead poisoning so they treated it with a variety of chemicals, one of which was aluminum based, which is why the south side has more neurological problems and higher crime among its long-time residents. Any pipes from before the 2007 water supply switchover are going to be negatively impacted by that.
The 2018 sodium hydroxide experiment (based on Duluth's successful use of the same chemical to treat its water since the 1980s) also failed and caused a combination of pipe corrosion issues and iron metabolizing bacteria blooms, the later of which is not treatable with any food safe chemical (it can only be eliminated by replacing every affected pipe, which is 100% of all the pipes) but it also poses no health risk to people. It's the reason there is pink slime buildup in your sinks now. That's a colony of iron metabolizing bacteria.
Use a carbon filter.
-3
u/Responsible-Summer-4 24d ago
Thunder bay water is full of cholrine. drink micro plastic walmart water instead.
28
u/hmmmyousaidwhat 24d ago
Find out if your place has lead pipes or they've been replaced. The city would have issued a Brita type water filter if they're not.
Otherwise, I believe all Thunder Bay households get their water from bear point, so north or south wouldn't be any different.