Throwing Fairbairn Into The Fray...

Poor Board Chair Fairbairn at RDNO.
Now he's being tossed into the water fray.

Wonder if anyone will actually ask "so why didn't they do it in the first place?" after reading this:

from Bob Spiers' Vernonblog here.

Water Testing Pilot Project Applied For

Posted on 1/25/2016 by Ron Manz 107.5 KISSFM
The Regional District North Okanagan is applying to the BC Government for a $10-thousand dollar grant for a water treatment testing pilot project. The pilot would look at alternative methods of treating water at the Duteau Creek Water Treatment plant. Board Chair Rick Fairbairn says if successful, it could mean some significant savings for water customers. "Look at some additional methods to pretreat the water and if that's successful we would be in a position to possibly delay or defer parts of the filtration system that has been proposed by Interior Health." Fairbairn says they will supplement the total cost of the pilot project out of reserve funds. "Maybe instead of having to put a filtration plant in, it will give us an opportunity to approach it from another angle that we can achieve the results without a filtration plant or at least reduce the costs." "The Regional District will supplement some of the costs out of the reserves to proceed. This is a grant to get the ball rolling. We all have good intentions but it is difficult to put a termination date on, because it has to go through the approval process so it is going to take some time." Interior Health is asking that the Regional District install a $30-million dollar filtration plant to bring water quality up to its preferred standard.

Lemme guess.
It'll "take some time" -- likely until after the Stakeholders' Advisory Committee has been dismantled.

"...we would be in a position to possibly delay or defer parts of the filtration system that has been proposed by Interior Health."
"Possibly delay?"  "or defer parts of the filtration system?"  "...has been proposed by Interior Health?"

Wow...that's a lot of ifs. 
Possibly.
Defer parts.

Maybe board chair Fairbairn needs a gentle nudge to remind him that "...filtration system that has been proposed by Interior Health"...isn't quite correct.
It's not proposed by IH.

The responsibility rests with Greater Vernon Water and their consultants to design a system that fully meets the 4-3-2-1-0 disinfection objectives.  Interior Health doesn't care how we do it, but GVW had recently suggested that filtration is the only way to achieve it.  

At least that's what the SAC committee heard during their deliberations on the Master Water Plan.

Now, poof, suddenly, air scrubbing is a possibility.
Especially since the talk around the town is to scrap the Duteau treatment plant altogether, instead of continuing to throw good money after bad.

That's not the only water issue people are concerned about...here or there.
Following the horrendous betrayal of residents in Flint Michigan, there's even more in the news now:  about lead in people's home plumbing.

"Has anybody asked GVW if they have asbestos/concrete pipes?" intones Kia.

One thing at a time please...