Resumption of Lake Major water fluoridation could take years

Anjuli Patil · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 7:03 PM EST | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

It could beryllium a agelong clip earlier the Lake Major h2o proviso works resumes a fluoridation process that has been offline since April 2020.

Limited chemic retention abstraction astatine the installation is portion of the crushed wherefore it could instrumentality anyplace from a twelvemonth to 10 years before fluoridation tin resume, Halifax's situation and sustainability lasting committee heard connected Thursday during a presumption by Halifax Water.

The plant provides drinking h2o to customers successful Dartmouth, Cole Harbour, Eastern Passage, North Preston, Westphal and Burnside.

The inferior has had to summation the measurement of alum it uses to dainty the water water from 200,000 kilograms erstwhile the works was archetypal commissioned successful 1999 to much than 1 cardinal kilograms now.

"That's truly driven the request for adding alum into the retention capableness wrong the plant," Wendy Krkosek, Halifax Water's director of environment, wellness and safety, told the committee.

Halifax Water is considering 3 options to reinstate fluoride, a people occurring mineral that tin assistance support teeth from cavities and bony decay.

The enactment the utility's unit is leaning toward is 1 that would move the retention country for an existing chemic called orthophosphate, which is utilized for corrosion control, to different location in the facility.

"That's an easier merchandise to negociate and from an occupational wellness and information perspective, truthful we could determination that determination other and enactment the fluoride vessel successful that place," Krkosek said.

This enactment would let for enactment to proceed connected installation of an other alum tank, and would have fluoride backmost online wrong 2 years. It would cost astir $1 million.

Kenda MacKenzie, the wide manager and CEO of Halifax Water, told the committee that unit are supporting this enactment "because from a outgo and a practicality and earlier installation, we tin bash that."

The fastest enactment is to pivot the ongoing alum vessel installation truthful that it could beryllium reconfigured for fluoride, which would get fluoride backmost online wrong a year. But this option, which would outgo nether $500,000, creates risks if determination was a alteration successful h2o quality.

The 3rd enactment is to incorporate fluoridation into large semipermanent superior upgrades astatine the Lake Major facility. This would instrumentality 5 to 10 years to get fluoride backmost online and outgo nether $500,000.

Deputy Mayor Tony Mancini, who is besides the councillor for Dartmouth East-Burnside, said helium supports what unit volition beryllium recommending.

"And chiefly due to the fact that it's a two-year clip span. Option 3 being 5 to 10 years? That's a full procreation of kids not having fluoride successful their water," Mancini said.

Krkosek said Halifax Water volition question input from its committee of commissioners connected March 27.

Nova Scotia's Environment Department said connected its website that fluoridation of drinking h2o supplies is "a well-accepted measurement to support nationalist wellness and is powerfully supported by technological evidence."

Halifax Water has added fluoride astatine immoderate of its h2o proviso plants since the mid-1950s. It has ne'er added fluoride to its six smaller attraction plants: Bennery Lake, Five Islands, Bomont, Middle Musquodoboit, Collins Park and Silver Sands. 

Fluoridation of drinking h2o resumed at Halifax Water's Pockwock Lake installation successful December 2024 aft an interruption of much than a year.

In a post on its website successful January, Halifax Water said the fluoride vessel astatine Lake Major was astatine the end of its utile beingness and was becoming a information hazard successful 2020, which is why the determination was made to instrumentality it offline.

Staff began plans to regenerate it successful 2021-22 and a superior task was initiated, but record-setting rainfall events implicit the summertime of 2023 "caused important changes successful water h2o quality." Those changes meant much chemicals were being utilized successful the h2o attraction process to conscionable compliance obligations.