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Advisory of the Day
2017/2/7
MONTREAL, QC: MIXING BUSINESS WITH WATER, QC
This story is brought to you in part by Waterloo Biofilter Systems
Montreal has a very large ratio of its water supply used for business and commercial uses. As we continue our investigation in part 2 of the 5 part series, we take a deeper look at how this precious resource is used when we include the necessity to make money and the ways business and commercial entities do it
When going to the restaurant, common practice is to have a glass of water served while you wait. Most places won't charge for it unless you ask specifically for bottled or mineral water. We wanted to know if simple tap water was being served or if any filtration or purification process was involved or required.
According to Martin Vezina, business and communications consultant for Association des Restaurateurs du Quebec (Quebec's restaurant owners association) : "There is no requirement on our behalf to have members install filtration systems for the water used in food preparation or served at the table. The only requirement is to serve safe drinkable water and Montreal's tap water respects these requirements." He also added: "We are a restaurant owner association and not an Order with chartered rules and regulations, we cannot impose those kinds of measures, some big chains do filter their water, but most of our members are not restaurant chain owners."
We contacted many managers of chain coffee shops and fast food giants of the city who were quick to reference us to their respective media relations departments. Most of them confirmed "off the record" that water is filtered before it goes into preparations of beverages like coffee and soda, to insure product consistency across the country, as tap water can taste a bit different from region to region.
What about waste water management? We asked around and everyone seemed a bit sensitive on the issue. As for restaurants, they are obligated by law (provincial and municipal) to use a waste management firm to come and pickup all oils and grease products which are securely stored and identified in specifically designed containers to be disposed and/ or recycled.
We went a bit further and asked a few car body shops on the island what they did with hazardous chemicals such as thinners and solvents used in car painting and touch-ups; They ALL referred us to an organisation by the name of Green Wrench (cleverte.org), an association of car/trucks repair shops that promotes a system of guidelines and accreditations to insure implementation of eco-friendly practices. Again no definitive answers as it is not a chartered order but an association.
We spoke to Mr. Benoit Boucher, President of DBOExpert.com who sells, distributes and installs a septic system for domestic type waste water (excrements, urine, dishes water, etc..) and uses the human intestinal flora bacteria present in the waste water to naturally decay and decompose sediments. He informed us that some parts of Montreal and Laval islands did not have access to a waste water treatment plant due to rapid population growth and vast numbers of new constructions being built. According to Mr Boucher, more and more construction companies used his company's technology as a common self-contained waste water management system for some newly built neighbourhoods. He also told us: "Every building by provincial law Q2R22 is required to be hooked to some sort of waste water management system, be it a municipal waste water treatment plant or a septic system that decays sediments chemically or organically."
Tomorrow we will take a close look at Montreal's hospitals which have very specific and potentially dangerous biohazards in their waste water.
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