Society plans a campaign to encourage water conservation

Photo by Whitehorse Star

The extended period the city needs to discharge treated wastewater into the Yukon River has the Yukon Conservation Society (YCS) applying for city money to educate residents on the importance of conserving water.

The city was granted permission earlier this week to discharge wastewater directly into the Yukon River from September until Dec. 15, an extension from its original date at the end of this month.

The discharge is needed to bring down the levels of the long-term storage facility.

The city’s acting public works manager, Terry O’Toole, said this morning the installation of a new outfall pipe delayed the start of the discharge period. Thus, the city applied for the extension through the Yukon Environmental Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

City engineering manager Wayne Tuck said today the city didn’t start discharging until Oct. 20

He noted the reason for the discharge this year is not entirely due to the level of water use in the city, but rather that the long-term storage facility has seen its levels increasing over the last 14 years, when the city last discharged into the river (under a previous water licence).

“The only change is extending the time period for discharge by a few weeks,” YCS executive director Karen Baltgailis said in a statement Wednesday. “The concern, though, is that despite having a water licence that allows direct discharge into the Yukon River, they have never had to do it before.”

Until now, the city has discharged its treated wastewater into Pothole Lake, which filters the water before it reaches the river.

With the lake now getting clogged, the water isn’t filtered as quickly, leaving the long-term storage facility at risk of over-topping, the conservation society said.

Direct discharge raises concerns about contaminants that aren’t being tested for in the wastewater which could end up in the river, the society said. Those include pesticides, herbicides, medicines, pharmaceuticals and cleaning products that go into the sewer system by residents who dump them.

“YCS isn’t criticizing YESAB or the City of Whitehorse – there isn’t any choice – direct discharge has to happen this time,” Baltgailis said.

”But we need to avoid this happening in the future. Whitehorse residents need to become much more conscious of how much water we use and what we flush down the drain.”

She went on to suggest people could likely cut the amount of water they use in half by doing things like flushing the toilet less often and showering every other day.

Baltgailis recognized in an interview this morning it will likely take more than a YCS press release to get people thinking about their water use and making changes.

However, she’s hopeful if the $5,000 the organization applied for through the city’s environmental grants comes through, it can get into full-swing on an education campaign focused on water conservation.

“This is basically the start of the campaign,” she said, noting the campaign came in a response to the city’s need to discharge directly into the river.

Along with the $5,000 it is seeking from the city, the society also has $5,000 lined up through in-kind support.

The initiative will include visits to high schools in the area, painted signs near storm sewers reminding residents of the impacts of dumping directly into it and other initiatives to encourage people to be cautious about their water use.

Baltgailis believes a major change in water use could come if the city moves forward with plans to move from the flat rate it charges for water to a metering system in a couple of years.

“It could make a significant difference,” she said.

It’s very easy to flush a toilet multiple times or run more loads of laundry that perhaps don’t necessarily need washing when the price for water is the same regardless of how often the tap is turned on, Baltgailis added.

While those are things residents on water delivery often do regularly, it’s not always the case for someone on the city’s water system.

City water is included as part of utility bills, with water and sewer costing single-family home owners $57.70 per month. Country residential subdivisions do not have sewer and water service.

If people pay for water based on their use, they’re more likely to pay attention to how much water they are consuming, Baltgailis said.

Along with things around the house, she pointed out there are also things people can do away from home to keep contaminants flowing into the river at a minimum.

“Definitely, people need to be careful about whatever they spill, even in parking lots,” she said. “It doesn’t just nicely disappear.”