General News

Mono man questions arsenic problem in town water

July 9, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Mono’s arsenic level in drinking water has been fairly stable over the years.

The municipality is considering means to address arsenic, but at least one resident questions the need to spend money on the issue.

Airport Road resident Ed Krakar is an environmental engineer who specializes in water and wastewater system design. He was part of a team that successfully designed an arsenic removal system. And he’s had an interest in the situation regarding arsenic in water from some of Mono’s municipal wells.

“I think we need to really look seriously (into) whether we really do have an arsenic problem,” he said. “There is no long-term evidence that we have high arsenic concentrations in the ground water.”

He said there have been “grab samples” over the years that have shown levels close to the drinking water limit. But the acceptable levels are not set according to health concerns. Rather, the level is set by what current technology can handle, he said.

“We get far more arsenic from our food than we do from our water,” Krakar said.

He said he doesn’t believe Mono has a serious arsenic problem in its water.

“I question whether we need to do anything at all,” he said.

Councillor Melinda Davie said one of the available options is indeed for the town to do nothing. But there’s a broader issue that’s created by Mono’s anticipated population growth.

“We need to be prepared for it,” she said. “And so the actual water capacity is an issue.”

Removing arsenic will increase water capacity to meet anticipated demand.

Davie agreed with Krakar’s point that the provincial government has a practice of changing the limit of a maximum acceptable concentration of arsenic in potable water.

“Let’s settle on a number,” she said.

Coun. Ralph Manktelow asked Krakar to elaborate on his idea.

Krakar said there is iron in the groundwater. With the oxidation of iron, arsenic readily precipitates out with the iron.

“It’ll collect in the well screens or it’ll collect in the piping,” he said. “Then when somebody cracks a valve to collect a sample, you’ll get some particles breaking loose from the walls of the pipe.”

That’s why that sample will indicate a high arsenic level, he said.

“But there hasn’t been a program of continuous sampling from those wells that has demonstrated we have an arsenic problem in the well, in the groundwater itself, in the aquifer,” he said.

One option to establish a baseline is continuous sampling over a period of time.

Manktelow said arsenic levels have been increasing over the years, likely because of arsenic dissolving from rocks in the aquifer. And that’s a concern.

“I haven’t seen that data,” Krakar said. “You may be right.”

Matt Doner, the town’s public works director, said the town samples its water quarterly as required.

“It’s been consistent,” he said. “We’ve had spikes. We do flush and sample regularly.”

But Doner said he doesn’t think the arsenic level has necessarily increased over the last 10 or 20 years.

“Arsenic is hard to predict because it’s naturally occurring in the rock,” he said. “It’s hard to predict and this is the reason why. It could higher. It could go lower.”

Over time, the level has been fairly stable at six to eight micrograms per litre.

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