Is your water safe? Provincial lab gave outdated answers
CBC
When Dana Whitenect had her well water tested at New Brunswick’s designated laboratory in Fredericton, she got back a report that confirmed what she could already see — enough manganese to contribute to brown staining in her water tanks.
She did not get a warning about the potential health risk to the children attending her Saint John daycare.
“They assured me it was just aesthetics, it was fine,” Whitenect said.
By federal standards, it wasn’t fine.
The level of manganese in her drinking water was nearly eight times the limit established by Health Canada back in 2019, to protect the brain development of children and formula-fed infants.
New Brunswick only matched that standard last week, when the province released updated drinking water guidelines to align with Health Canada.
Gilles LePage, the provincial environment minister, said he could not explain the years-long delay, having only got the cabinet post after the 2024 election.
Health Canada’s guidelines are not legally binding on the provinces. And New Brunswick’s Research and Productivity Council, established as a Crown corporation, has not always referenced them in well-water reports.
For at least the past year, New Brunswickers who dropped off their water samples directly at council labs would get a red caution if their water exceeded Canadian drinking water guidelines.
Last month, CBC News took water from a residential well known to have high manganese and delivered half the sample directly to Research and Productivity Council labs in Fredericton.
The other half was submitted to the Service New Brunswick office in Burton, which then forwarded the sample to council labs.
The council lab charged $213 and generated a report with a health-risk warning.
Service New Brunswick charged $209, then sent the sample to the very same lab, but the well owner got no warning.
LePage said that discrepancy has been corrected.
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