Testing of the Grey-Bruce watersheds have come up with a passing grade for all watersheds in terms of water quality.There is a concern over the riparian zones(A riparian zone is the interface between land and a flowing surface water body) along the Sauble river, and plans are being made to remedy this by encouraging planting of trees and plants along the river banks to discourage erosion.Congratulations for the excellent water quality for our area, a very encouraging sign!
Lets endeavour to keep it that way :)

Thanks to Dick Waugh's editorial, of the Owen Sound Sun Times, for telling it like it is in Sauble Beach regarding sewer and water.

Water and sewers for Sauble?; Don't hold your breath!

Makes for interesting reading.

Sauble Water and Sewer. Addendum No 2 Revised
revised Jan 22/07
History:

In 1995 an Environmental Assessment was started to consider servicing options for Sauble Beach and Hepworth. This was 90% completed in 2001 and a 2001 Environmental Study Report recommended a regional water system supplied from Wiarton and a Sauble Beach wastewater treatment system.

Addendum No 1 in 2003 added Hepworth to the waste treatment system with a lift pump in Hepworth and a second lift at Clifford subdivision to push sewage to Sauble.

In the spring of 2006 the EA expired on a 5 year sunset clause without receiving funding and without completion of the final portion which was to locate and decide the best type of sewage treatment plant.

Good to know that somebody out there still cares about our national scientific integrity in general and our local community health in particular, even if it is only just a bunch of students ... The Canadian Federation of Students go to court today seeking to coerce the NSERC watchdogs into actually watching the 'research' that wound its way into our municipal tap water:

Many scientists do not put political spins on environmental issues. A small group of such experts recently expressed serious concerns regarding the availability of clean drinking water for the global population.
Approximately three questers of the earth's surface is covered with water, albeit the biggest bodies of water are salty. Only about three percent of all water is drinkable, and most of this is frozen in polar caps and glaciers. Only a tiny fraction (approximately 3 of 1000 liters or 0.3%) is actually useful drinking water.

My wife's family purchased an older cottage in Sauble (just down the road from their even older cottage, which they sold) about 5 years ago. She wasn't my wife at the time, so I wasn't around. The two of us are "the caretakers" and we keep the place up pretty well. This past year we installed a UV purification system for the water (water testing results came back negative for any contaminants and our water is now safe and drinkable). One thing that I've been meaning to get around to is checking out the septic system to see if it needs to be pumped, etc. The thing is, no one in her family knew where the access to the tank was. Luckily, we were up there all last week and the old owners happened to come by to check their old place out (lovely older couple).

I'm surprised that no one picked up from the council meeting minutes on the SBP website that they're suporting the Kincardine deep well disposal for radioactive waste. It would be one thing if this was an area of igneous precambrian shield but our bedrock is sedimentary limestone with fissures. On a timescale the 300 year window that they aim for storage sounds long but it's less than the period of european exploration and settlement of Ontario. I assume that jobs at the plant which support our bedroom community status are more important at this time.

Just a reminder to all residents of Grey/Bruce that you can get your water tested for free at various locations in the area.This is a service provided by Grey Bruce Health Unit, you can read more details by visiting
Grey Bruce Health

The water that comes out of the ground in many areas of the province is undrinkable in its raw form—and not necessarily for bacteriological reasons. Where we live, it needs to he variously filtered, deionized, softened, UV treated and finally tested in a private lab.

However, if private water systems are now to be metered, perhaps government will also consider making this equipment, its installation and maintenance—to say nothing of drilling itself—tax deductable for ordinary rural citizens. (Don’t hold you breath.)

It is hard to imagine that the TSBP would not be fully supportive of measures to introduce this new form of taxation. Under the circumstances, metering seems like a given.

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