The new Loch Lomond Drinking Water Treatment Facility will come online later this year, but the city wants to prepare the east side water system before it does.
Common Council approved a plan Monday night to add sodium hydroxide to the system to slowly increase the water’s pH level.
Once the pH level reaches a certain point, orthophosphate will also be added to help prevent pipe corrosion.
Saint John Water commissioner Brent McGovern says they had planned to adjust the pH levels before the new treatment facility was up and running, but there were no plans to add orthophosphate until after.
“But given the risks and our desire to ensure we mitigate as much as possible, we’ve recommended to council that the step be made,” says McGovern.
“We do have Canada’s oldest water system, we do have among the oldest housing stock, so we just ask customers to be cognizant and aware that we are going through this change.”
The sodium hydroxide will be added in mid- to late April, followed by the orthophosphate in June or July.
If the word orthophosphate sounds familiar, it’s because the chemical was recently added to the west side water system to help prevent more copper pipe leaks since the switchover to well water.
When asked why it wasn’t added sooner on the west side, McGovern says it wouldn’t have been effective before the switch to well water.
“It’s ineffective at certain pH [levels], so there are other treatment aspects that need to happen,” he says. “When we changed to well water, the water chemistry changed such that orthophosphate was effective.”
The temporary orthophosphate system on the west side started operating late Monday afternoon.
(Photo of new Loch Lomond Drinking Water Treatment Facility from Common Council agenda)
