Boil Water Advisory Taking A Toll
I’m feeling a little bit like “Mrs. Ingalls” this week. You know, from Little House On The Prairie? I live in Okotoks, a place my husband and I love. This week though, we’re a little frustrated. We’ve been told to not drink the water straight from the tap. Apparently the recent rainfall has increased the “turbidity” in the Sheep River, which is our drinking supply. In other words, the river looks more like chocolate milk than water.
Water, I’ve discovered, is one of those things you totally take for granted living in Canada. Normally, you turn on the tap without giving it a second thought and it’s just there. Always ready to go whenever you need it. This week though, I’ve been boiling water to do the dishes that need to be done by hand. I’ve also found myself running back upstairs at 2:30 in the morning to get a glass of bottled water so that I can brush my teeth!
One of the things we didn’t think about when the boil water advisory was issued was our dogs. The poor things were still getting tap water, and you can just imagine what happened there…..can you say “running to the door with a panic stricken face?” Needless to say, they’re now on the bottled water program as well.
I am wondering why this boil water advisory happened in the first place? From what I can tell, we pay a lot of taxes to live in Okotoks. As a matter of fact, we just forked over $2800.00 for our property taxes. That’s more than my parents pay and they live in Calgary, in the inner city! As a matter of fact, according to Stats Canada, Okotoks had the highest population growth between 2001 and 2006, across the entire country. The population of Okotoks has grown by 46% since 2001. I think maybe it’s time for Town Council to start looking at upgrading the water treatment system. We certainly don’t want another Walkerton.