Chlorine Spills into NSR

[Graffy91]

http://globalnews.ca/news/1678399/edmonton-company-fined-for-chlorine-spills-into-river/

Disgusting.

[fish99]

a spill a few years ago killed the fish in the elbow river down stream of the glennmore res in the fall time when the browns and rockies were spawning. these types of spills are deadly to fish.

[hillbillyreefer]

Poor article.

Was it chlorinated drinking water? If it was why the fine?
Where does all the chlorinated potable water used in the city end up?
There has to be something more to the story.

[TimeOff]

Question is, is this tap water?. Sounds like a water main break/leak. Treated city tap water contains Chlorine, among other chemicals the water is treated with. Are people spilling Chlorine in the city every time they water their lawn, wash their car?.

[FishAb]

this isnt good, but there must be more to the story

[CanadianBadass]

That's just plain Ol'Retarded ! Thanks for the share ! :angry3:

[italk2u]

You wanna see something really scary?
Check out what these guys do for a living, under contract to the city.
http://www.norellco.com/storm-water-management-facilities

[buckmaster]

http://globalnews.ca/news/1678399/edmonton-company-fined-for-chlorine-spills-into-river/

Disgusting.

A while ago, clarke construction received the same fine. They tapped into a water main at royal glenora club and millions of litres of clorinated water spilled directly into the river.

[buckmaster]

a spill a few years ago killed the fish in the elbow river down stream of the glennmore res in the fall time when the browns and rockies were spawning. these types of spills are deadly to fish.

X2,

[hillbillyreefer]

Let's see if I understand this.

Treated potable drinking water in the City of Edmonton is too deadly to spill a tiny amount into a river, but drinking it is just fine?

[italk2u]

Correct! This is also why they stopped the High Level Bridge waterfall..chlorinated water that is deadly to most fish species in the NSR.

[hillbillyreefer]

Correct! This is also why they stopped the High Level Bridge waterfall..chlorinated water that is deadly to most fish species in the NSR.

No way there is enough chlorine hitting the river from that waterfall to harm anything. The falls used 50m3/min the mean flow rate of the river is 12780m3/min (213m3/s). Drinking water is treated at 4ppm with chlorine. Someone could figure out the dilution as it hits the river, but there is no way it's enough to be harmful to fish. The way the water was sprayed allows lots of contact with the air, a good mount of that chlorine would gas off before it even hit the river. The same principal as letting tap water sit overnight in a pail before doing a water change in the goldfish bowl.

I suspect "environmental" concerns are being scapegoated for $$$$$$$ concerns, after all Edmonton needs to pay for Katz's new investment.

[Billy2017]

Its funny when I drain hydrants at work I have to put dechlorination pucks by the catch basins..... I guess fish are really sensitive to chlorine

[Pikebreath]

Hillbilly's point about chlorine concentration and dilution is valid,,,, on an invidual case by case point source, there is likely not enough chlorine concentration to cause fish kills. However, the cumulative dumping of chlorinated water from all point sources in a major city could raise chlorine levels high enough to cause problems.

Charges and fines are there to act as a deterrent against intentional dumping of chlorinated water back into the river to ensure chlorine levels stay below lethal concentrations.

[EZM]

At those concentrations - there is very little to worry about.

Chlorine has a very short residual (life expectancy) when put into moving (aerated water like a moving river). It would likely be immediately dispersed, and at concentrations not harmful to fish and what would remain would quickly and permanently disappear.

The fact that the NSR contains high levels of metals and nitrates would also help speed up this process. (both metals and nitrates tie up Chlorine molecules pretty quickly).

I don't think we need anything "added" to our river, and it does suck, but this isn't a major issue .... a little media hype .......... but hey .... I'm not a organic chemist .....