Water clinics contradict nitrates survey

Free water testing clinics set up in P.E.I. are showing much lower levels of nitrates in drinking water than suggested by a study released in the spring.

The joint federal-provincial study suggested as many as one in five wells in some parts of P.E.I. could have levels of nitrates above Health Canada guidelines, and said the nitrates were coming from fertilizers spread on farm fields. The study prompted the appointment of a nitrates commission to look into the problem, and the government set up free clinics to test drinking water for nitrates.

Those clinics are finding much lower levels of nitrates than the study did.

"Two-point-eight per cent [of samples] were above general levels put out by Health Canada. Twenty-one per cent were actually below 1.0 milligrams per litre, so that's very low," nitrate clinic co-ordinator David Clark said.

The first two clinics were held in eastern P.E.I. More than 200 people brought samples to the first clinic in Souris, and another 360-plusattended the second clinic in Poole's Corner.

Upcoming clinics in other areas of the province could show a different picture. For example, the study flagged the Wilmot River watershed, to the east of Summerside, as particularly problematic.

The third of five clinics will take place this Saturday in Kinkora, near the Wilmot River watershed. The province is spending $35,000 on the clinics.

The Commission on Nitrates in Groundwater is expected to give its report to Premier Robert Ghiz by June.