Saturday, July 06, 2019

There is more than plastic to be drinking from the water, there is ash from wildfires.


The City of Calgary is studying the effects of widespread wildfires on drinking water, which some researchers say has been overlooked and misunderstood until recently. Water treatment engineers and hydrologists employed by the City said that as climate change has increased the number of wildfires in Canada and that scientists are starting to realize that fires can have a significant effect on drinking water years after the fact. After a fire, rain and melting snow wash ash and other debris into the water, often leading to more sediment, changes in the concentration and type of dissolved organic carbon, and phosphorous. This may lead to different methods of treatment, though at present they are not sure which methods, but are sure that failure to solve the problem would be injurious to people’s health. Harpreet Sandhu, Calgary's leading watershed planner, said that: "Though Calgary has multiple sources of drinking water, they are increasingly at risk due to the changing climate.'' 

The answer should be obvious, stop climate change - and there's only one sure way to do that.

Yours for Socialism, 
SPC contributing members 

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