It’s safe to drink water from the tap in Coquitlam.
That’s the conclusion of an annual report released this month about the city’s drinking water supply.
According to the document that came before the city’s committee meeting on June 12, Metro Vancouver crews took 1,922 water quality samples last year — testing for bacteria, turbidity, chlorine residual and temperature, with only two testing positive for non-fecal coliform bacteria.
No samples came back positive for E.coli in 2022 and most came back with adequate amounts of free chlorine, which is added as a secondary disinfectant at the water source. Staff recorded low amounts of free chlorine residual at three of the 30 sampling stations.
In total, the city fielded 58 complaints about water quality last year, largely to do with discoloured water (19 were because of bad taste or odour); however, most of the issues were resolved in two hours by having the residents flush their taps.
Civic staff also flushed out more than 93 km of water mains last year, as well as the Hoy Creek reservoir as part of a tri-annual cleaning program.
Meanwhile, Fraser Health — the regional health authority — continues to require that a flushing message be included within the city’s annual report because of trace amounts of lead in some drinking water systems.
Coquitlam does not use lead service lines for water distribution, Mayor Richard Stewart pointed out at the meeting.
Still, “Fraser Health maintains that it is possible that some components used in home plumbing systems up until 2014 may contain traces of lead and, since there is no safe level of lead exposure, the flushing message is still required,” wrote Jaime Boan, Coquitlam’s general manager of engineering and public works, in his June 5 report to council.
Coun. Craig Hodge, Coquitlam’s representative on the Metro Vancouver water committee, said the city and “all of the Lower Mainland are blessed to have fantastic drinking water and an abundance of drinking water.”
“We consume about 250L of water per person in this city for less an $1 a day and it’s all fantastic quality drinking water, but this is also just a chance to remind people: Let’s not waste it. It looks like we’re already into a drought right now and it’s good drinking water that we’re using to wash our cars and water our lawns, so let’s use that water wisely.”
To read the city’s full 2022 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, go to at coquitlam.ca/water.
