Shawinigan taxpayers call for more transparency on failure of water treatment plant
CBC
Elizabeth Grégoire fills a kettle with water in the kitchen of her home in Shawinigan-Sud. She empties the boiled water into a large pot on the stove, where, once it's cooled, she'll transfer it to jugs for use during the day.
This has been Grégoire's routine for four months now, since the city abruptly announced the closure of the water treatment plant at Lac à la Pêche, which provides drinking water to their district, as well as Shawinigan center, Lac à la Tortue and Saint-Gérard-des-Laurentides.
Grégoire is tired of the added complication, but she's more frustrated with the attitude of the mayor, when people ask for answers about why a $43-million facility doesn't work.
"He doesn't want to admit there was a mistake," Grégoire said. "So he prefers to blame the citizens for being complainers."
The mayor, Michel Angers, says he can't make information about the plant's problems public because the city is considering legal action.
Grégoire's husband, Eric Bonfanti, wonders whether a push to save money led the city to choose the wrong firm to design the plant. He wants the mayor to make expert analyses public so he can judge for himself.
"Most people aren't idiots,"' Bonfanti says. "'If you made a mistake, admit it!"
Problems became apparent shortly after the Lac à la Pêche station came online in January 2020. The membranes installed to filter impurities out of the water from the lake were getting clogged with a mixture of the organic matter in the water and the chemicals used to treat the water.
In late November, plant operators made an urgent call to the city. The filters had clogged to the point where the plant was on the verge of a breakdown. The city ordered the shutdown of the facility, and rigged a bypass where the lake water would be chlorinated before being pumped through the distribution system.
Because the water was no longer being filtered, public health ordered a boil-water advisory for the city neighbourhoods affected.
The city commissioned a study by a team from Polytechnique Montréal, the Université de Montréal's engineering school.
The mayor announced in December that the preliminary results suggested the plant would need to undergo modifications to properly filter the water from the lake.
City engineers are working on a temporary solution. But four months into the boil-water order, tempers are starting to flare.
At the monthly city council meeting in early March — the first in person since COVID restrictions were lifted — residents finally had a chance to ask questions face-to-face. People peppered Mayor Angers with criticism for a lack of transparency on the water file.