'The water is safe': Water Treatment Plant Superintendent shares on process part 2

While Weyburn's tap water is less than ideal tasting currently due to the higher levels of algae in Nickle Lake, the Superintendent of Weyburn's Water Treatment Plant, Shabbir Sakrani, said their three-part process ensures the water is completely safe to drink.

Algae, he noted, is a natural growth process of a microscopic organism in all-natural surface water, depending on the temperature, salinity, and pH of the water.

Since Weyburn's water supply comes from Nickle Lake, a natural water body, dealing with algae has always been part of the three-step water treatment process used at the plant.

"The City has three barriers: Oxidizer, chlorination, and the UV system. So there is no point that it's harmful or unsafe to drink, even though our process kills everything and removes everything without UV, but UV is another safety barrier that ensures 99.999 percent." 

The initial process is oxidation. "Then it goes to the clarification where all algae particles get into the sludge and then we added chlorine to oxidize any leftover particles and then it goes to the filtration," he shared. "Finally our UV system is the last barrier that actually kills any leftover pathogens."

Sakrani added, "water is safe in terms of algae, once it's treated at the water treatment plant."

How can you deal with the odor and taste of the water? Read more: Weyburn water is safe, but what can be done about the taste? Part 1