Water Facts and Information
Did you know?
- 1/4 of all clean water that enters your home is used to flush toilets
- One toilet flush require 3 gallons of clean treated water
- A single load of laundry equals 40 gallons of clean water
- A ten minute shower requires 50 gallons of clean water
- Brushing teeth with the tap running requires 4 gallons
- Your body is 60% water
- Your brain is 70 % water
- Your blood is 80% water
- You can live without food for a month but your body cannot survive one week without clean water
- 3% of the planet earth is fresh water and most is in the form of ice
- Less than 1% of fresh water is accessible for human use
- The Yukon is a high user of clean water
Water Quality
The City of Whitehorse does weekly collection and independent testing of the drinking water, at approximately 20 locations around Whitehorse. Here are analyses from June 2017:
|
Parameter
|
Units
|
Treated Drinking Water
|
Canadian Drinking Water Guideline
|
|
Alkalinity (Total as CaCO3)
|
mg/L
|
125
|
N/A
|
|
Bicarbonate (HCO3
|
mg/L
|
150
|
N/A
|
|
Carbonate (CO3)
|
mg/L
|
1.34
|
N/A
|
|
Conductivity
|
µS/cm
|
347
|
N/A
|
|
pH
|
8.32
|
N/A
|
|
|
Total Dissolved Solids
|
mg/L
|
192
|
N/A
|
|
Turbidity
|
NTU
|
0.14
|
N/A
|
|
Total Hardness (CaCO3)
|
mg/L
|
157
|
N/A
|
|
Calcium (Ca)
|
mg/L
|
28.1
|
N/A
|
|
Magnesium (Mg)
|
mg/L
|
21.1
|
N/A
|
|
Sodium (Na)
|
mg/L
|
9.86
|
< 200
|
|
Sulphate (SO4)
|
mg/L
|
51.2
|
< 500
|
|
Arsenic (As)
|
mg/L
|
0.00337
|
0.01
|
|
Copper (Cu)
|
mg/L
|
0.018
|
1
|
|
Fluoride (F)
|
mg/L
|
0.130
|
1.5
|
|
Lead (Pb)
|
mg/L
|
0.00175
|
0.01
|
|
Manganese (Mn)
|
mg/L
|
< 0.001
|
0.05
|
|
Zinc (Zn)
|
mg/L
|
0.0874
|
< 5.0
|
Click here to view historical information (2013).
Our work in pictures
| This water well house pump pulls water from the aquifer 20 metres underground. |
| A City of Whitehorse well house. |
| This is the interior of a newly constructed water reservoir. The coloured arrows represent the level of the reservoir if it was full of clean potable water and the amount for each of the identified uses. |
| This is the lift station where waste is pumped to the treatment lagoons. |
| One of the City's treatment lagoons. |
| |
| Another treatment lagoon which looks just like a normal lake. |
Top water issues for municipalities:
- State of water and sewer infrastructure
- Long-term water supply availability
- Financing for capital improvements
- Public understanding of the value of water resources
- Public understanding of the value of water systems and services