Developing a community-based monitoring program for drinking water supplies in the Indian Bay Watershed: A baseline study of surface water quality, contamination sources and resident practices and perceptions

• Main Authors: Holisko, Stephen, Speed, David, Vodden, Kelly, Sarkar, Atanu
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: The Harris Centre 2014
• Subjects: Newfoundland; Indian; Centreville
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/8124/; https://research.library.mun.ca/8124/1/12-13-DWARF-Final-Vodden.pdf; http://www.mun.ca/harriscentre/reports/arf/2012/12-13-DWARF-Final-Vodden.pdf

Drinking water issues in rural Newfoundland and Labrador are closely tied to the health of watersheds and thus are relevant to residents, users, and neighboring communities of those watersheds. Because boil water advisories (BWA) and persistent challenges to supplying safe drinking water in rural municipalities in Newfoundland are commonplace, this project seeks to explore root causes as well as future directions related to these issues. More precisely, this project seeks to design community-based approaches to water stewardship to supplement the supply and monitoring of drinking water as currently carried out by municipalities and the provincial government. This project focused on the Towns of Indian Bay and Centreville-Wareham-Trinity (CWT). The Town of Indian Bay has been on BWA since September 2008, largely due to inadequate treatment and distribution infrastructure, while the Town of CWT has experienced periodic BWAs in recent years for a variety of reasons. Evidence suggests that a significant proportion of the residents in these communities draw their primary drinking water sources from outside the public supply: specifically, from natural roadside springs as well as store-bought bottled water. Evidence further suggests that there is a level of distrust as well as distaste for publicly supplied drinking water among residents. For these reasons, it may be inadequate to merely “fix” infrastructural and management related issues within these water systems to ensure drinking water safety and security. Public education, outreach, participation, and awareness are all critical factors. Several key methods were used to carry out the research. Source water sampling was carried out at sites throughout the Indian Bay Watershed (the Town of Indian Bay’s water supply) as well as two popular roadside springs. In addition to results that indicate the presence of E. coli and therefore threats to public health, this sampling provides a baseline for future water quality research and the potential to monitor changes water ...