2010 Winnipeg distribution system water quality test results

The Winnipeg distribution system is the last location where we add chlorine to the water - at the outlet from each of the three pumping stations. The other locations are at the Shoal Lake intake on a periodic basis and at the Water Treatment Plant.

Our Operating Licence requires that we maintain a minimum free chlorine residual of 0.1 milligrams per litre throughout the distribution system.

Testing
Winnipeg water is intensively monitored on a routine basis at Shoal Lake, before it enters the Water Treatment Plant and after the water has passed through the treatment processes to ensure that the water is safe and that regulatory requirements are met. Because water quality is so important, our level of monitoring and sampling exceeds Provincial regulatory requirements.

We monitor chlorine at the places where it is added, and at 39 sites throughout the distribution system. Equipment is used to continuously monitor chlorine levels at the pumping stations and the distribution system levels are checked on a weekly basis.
Microbiological samples are taken weekly at over 60 locations throughout the system. Tests are conducted for Escherichia coli and total coliform bacteria according to Provincial regulations. We also test for Heterotrophic plate count which is not required under the new Provincial regulations but can be useful to identify potential problem areas within the distribution system.

We also test Winnipeg distribution system water for:

routine water chemistry
metals (analyzed both by us and the Province)
disinfection by-products

We measure how water quality changes within the distribution system and the quality of water delivered to customers with these tests. We also respond to customer inquiries and complaints about water quality. Contact us for more information.

What is being measured	How it's measured	Guideline or regulation	Winnipeg average	Winnipeg range	Comments
Odour*	units	Inoffensive	59	30 to 100	Meets the guideline
Geosmin**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.7	<0.5 to 0.8	Common taste and odour compound
IPMP - 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.5	<0.5 to <0.5	Common taste and odour compound
IBMP - 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.5	<0.5 to <0.5	Common taste and odour compound
MIB - 2-methylisoborneol**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.9	<0.5 to <4.0	Common taste and odour compound
246 TCA - 2,4,6-trichloroanisole**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.5	<0.5 to <2.0	Common taste and odour compound
236 TCA - 2,3,6-trichloroanisole**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.5	<0.5 to <1.0	Common taste and odour compound
345 TCV - 3,4,5-trichloroveratrole**	parts per trillion	no guideline	<0.5	<0.5 to <0.5	Common taste and odour compound
MTBE - methyl tertiary-butyl ether**	parts per million	no more than 0.015	<0.0005	<0.0005 to <0.0005	Meets the guideline
NDMA - N-nitrosodimethylamine**	parts per billion	under review	0.0257	0.0012 to 0.0778	Guideline under review by Health Canada
Chlorophyll-a*	parts per billion	no guideline	<1	<1 to 2	Chlorophyll is found in algae
Microcystin LR**	parts per billion	no more than 1.5	<0.2	<0.2 to <0.2	Meets the guideline
Turbidity (clearness)	Nephelometric turbidity units	no guideline	0.25	0.09 to 3.59	-
Colour, Apparent	Apparent colour units	no guideline	2.5	2.5 to 5.0	-
Total Dissolved Solids*	milligrams per litre	no more than 500	174	146 to 196	Meets the guideline
Conductivity*	microsiemens per centimetre	no guideline	298	288 to 308	Another measure of dissolved solids
pH	units	between 6.5 and 8.5	7.57	7.24 to 8.04	Meets the guideline
Temperature	degrees Celcius	no more than 15	10.3	1.0 to 23.0	Does not always meet the guideline
Total Alkalinity	parts per million as calcium carbonate	no guideline	66	57 to 76	-
Total Hardness	parts per million as calcium carbonate	between 80 and 100	78	70 to 86	Does not always meet the guideline
Total Organic Carbon*	parts per million	no guideline	4.2	3.4 to 5.1	-
Total Inorganic Carbon*	parts per million	no guideline	12.8	9.2 to 16.1	-
Fluoride¹	parts per million	no more than 1.5	0.85	0.81 to 0.90	Meets the guideline
Ammonia Dissolved*	parts per million	no guideline	0.024	0.021 to <0.050	-
Nitrate Nitrogen*	parts per million	no more than 10	<0.050	<0.050 to <0.050	Meets the guideline
Soluble Phosphate	parts per million as phosphorus	no guideline	1.95	1.86 to 2.10	Added for Lead Control Program
Chloride	parts per million	no more than 250	21	16 to 28	Meets the guideline
Sulfate	parts per million	no more than 500	45	29 to 56	Meets the guideline
Chlorine (free)	parts per million	no guideline	0.50	0.02 to 1.15	-
Chlorine (total)	parts per million	no guideline	0.70	0.14 to 1.34	-
Trihalomethanes	parts per billion	no more than 100	59	12 to 97	Meets the guideline
Haloacetic acids	parts per billion	no more than 80	30	<10 to 59	Meets the guideline
Aldehydes	parts per billion	no guideline	20	10 to 54	-
Calcium	parts per million	no guideline	21.2	19.7 to 22.8	Contributes to hardness
Magnesium	parts per million	no guideline	5.6	5.2 to 5.9	Contributes to hardness
Sodium	parts per million	no more than 200	29.1	23.2 to 33.8	Meets the guideline
Potassium	parts per million	no guideline	1.2	1.1 to 1.3	-
Iron	parts per million	no more than 0.3	0.06	0.01 to 0.15	Meets the guideline
Copper	parts per million	no more than 1.0	0.062	0.022 to 0.134	Meets the guideline
Lead²	parts per million	no more than 0.01	<0.001	<0.001 to <0.001	Meets the guideline
Aluminum	parts per million	no more than 0.1	0.003	<0.001 to 0.018	Meets the guideline
Arsenic	parts per million	no more than 0.01	<0.001	<0.001 to <0.001	Meets the guideline
Chromium	parts per million	no more than 0.05	0.002	<0.001 to 0.005	Meets the guideline
Nickel	parts per million	no guideline	0.002	0.001 to 0.003	-
Cadmium	parts per million	no more than 0.005	<0.001	<0.001 to <0.001	Meets the guideline
Manganese	parts per million	no more than 0.05	0.022	0.016 to 0.038	Meets the guideline
Zinc	parts per million	no more than 5.0	<0.003	<0.001 to 0.005	Meets the guideline
Mercury	parts per million	no more than 0.001	<0.000001	<0.000001 to <0.000001	Meets the guideline
Antimony*	parts per million	no more than 0.006	<0.00020***	<0.00020 to 0.00036***	Meets the guideline
Barium*	parts per million	no more than 1	0.0153	0.0140 to 0.0172	Meets the guideline
Beryllium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Bismuth*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Boron	parts per million	no more than 5	0.010	0.009 to 0.011	Meets the guideline
Cesium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00010	<0.00010 to <0.00010	-
Cobalt*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Lithium*	parts per million	no guideline	0.0021	<0.0020 to 0.0031	-
Molybdenum*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Rubidium*	parts per million	no guideline	0.00179	0.00161 to 0.00194	-
Selenium*	parts per million	no more than 0.01	<0.0010	<0.0010 to <0.0010	Meets the guideline
Silicon*	parts per million	no guideline	0.813	0.399 to 1.14	-
Silver*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00010	<0.00010 to <0.00010	-
Strontium*	parts per million	no guideline	0.0399	0.0366 to 0.0436	-
Tellurium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Thallium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00010	<0.00010 to <0.00010	-
Thorium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00010	<0.00010 to <0.00010	-
Tin*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00060	-
Titanium*	parts per million	no guideline	0.00026	<0.00020 to <0.00090	-
Tungsten*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.0010	<0.00020 to <0.0010	-
Uranium	parts per million	no more than 0.02	<0.00010	<0.00010 to <0.00010	Meets the guideline
Vanadium*	parts per million	no guideline	<0.00020	<0.00020 to <0.00020	-
Zirconium	parts per million	no guideline	<0.001	<0.001 to <0.001	-

¹	Fluoride was added in accordance with the Provincial Fluoridation Program guideline to reach an optimal concentration of 0.85 parts per million.
²	Does not include the results from our monthly lead monitoring program.
*	Data reported was collected from Maclean, Hurst, and McPhillips Pumping Station discharge.
**	Data reported was collected from McPhillips Pumping Station discharge.
***	Provincial monitoring results were reported instead of our own results because our detection limit is higher than the guideline.

Bacterial testing

What is being measured	Guideline	Our test results	Comments
Number of total coliform bacteria tests in year	1820 samples	2,962	More testing than required by the guideline/provincial regulation
Number of times that total coliform bacteria show up in a test	no more than 10% of samples with positive total coliform or no consecutive positives from the same site.	0.4% (12 positive tests)	All resamples were negative and met the guideline/provincial regulation
Number of Escherichia coli bacteria tests in year	1820 samples	2,962	More testing than required by the guideline/provincial regulation
Number of times that Escherichia coli bacteria show up in a test	no bacteria present in the sample	0.0% (no positive tests)	All samples were negative and met the guideline/provincial regulation
Number of heterotrophic (bacteria) plate count (HPC) tests done	no guideline	2,962	Heterotrophic plate count is not required under the new provincial regulations. We test for heterotrophic plate count to help identify potential problem areas in the distribution system.

Guidelines from 'Summary of Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality' by Health Canada, revised February 1, 2011.

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Last updated: April 15, 2024

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