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National

NESTlJ'S WATER FIGHT

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On January i, the Ontariogovernment made anannouncement. For two years, it

will not issue any new permits

to companies wishing to bottlethe province's water. It wont

expand existing permits either.

Then, on January 18, theprovince added another change.It will increase the fee it chargesto water bottling companiesthat hold existing permits. Thecurrent rate of $371 per onemillion litres of water will rise to$503.71 per million litres. That'son top of a permit application feeof between $750 and $3000.

Why is the government takingthese measures? Because of a

controversy over the province's

stewardship of Ontario's water

supply.

Nestle s operations

The controversy was sparked lastsummer. That's when Nestle, the

largest water bottling companyin Canada, applied to renew oneof its water-taking permits.

Nestle operates 29 water bottlingfacilities across the continent.

The company gets its water frommany sources. In some cases, it

bottles filtered municipal water.In others, the water is sourcedfrom springs.

Nestle has agreements to access

75 springs in 40 locations acrossNorth America. Two are inOntario. The company hasactive permits to withdraw 3.6million litres of water a day fromAberfoyle, and 1.1 million litres

per day from nearby Erin.

bottled wateropponentsWhen Nestles Aberfoyle permitcame up for renewal in July 2016,many people complained aboutthe small fee the company paidfor the province's water. For one

BOflllP WATERDuring the last two decades,Nestlesbottled-water sales in

North America have explodedtenfold from $400 million (U.S.)to about $4 billion. Its Aberfoyleplant produces 56 million casesof water annually.

Nestle, and other water bottlingcompanies, say bottled water is

a healthy alternative to sugarydrinks. Bottled water critics,

however, say that water is a basic

human right. It should be "forlife, not profit." They also arguethat producing plastic bottlesuses energy and wastes our

resources.

million litres of water. Nestle

was paying what consumers arecharged for one or two bottles.Others pointed out that residents

pay about $2.14 per thousandlitres of water depending ontheir municipality. That means

definitionspermit: an official document giving someone authorizationto do something

stewardship: the way in which someone organizes andtakes care of something

2016 2017: Issue 5 WHAT IN THE WORLD? • LEVEL 1 PACE 9

National

WSIER FIGHTthey are being charged up to576-times more than the bottlingcompanies.

A drought last summer addedto opposition to Nestles permitrenewal. The city of Guelphdraws from the same aquiferas Aberfoyle. During the hot,

dry summer, Guelph officialsworried that there wouldn't be

enough water to go around.Residents caught wateringtheir lawns received $130 fines.Farmers struggled to keep cropsirrigated. Yet Nestle was allowed

to keep bottling and shippingwater. Environmentalists saidNestles withdrawals caused the

aquifer to drop by as much as1.5 metres.

Then, in August, Nestle madethe news across Canada when

it acquired a third well in theregion. It outbid the Townshipof Centre Wellington that hadwanted to buy the well for thecommunity.

nestle s response.

Debbie Moore, president ofNestle Waters Canada, defended

her company. She pointed outthat it employs 2000 people inOntario. That includes 300 in theAberfoyle region. She also saidthat bottled water fills a need.

"Bottled water... is healthy, it's

convenient, and it's portable. But

it also plays a key role in timesof crisis, or when local watersources have been compromisedfor any reason," she stated.

Company officials also cited15 years of data from 80monitoring sites. It showed thatNestle's water withdrawals havehad little effect on groundwatersupplies. They added thatthey had voluntarily reducedwater-taking by 20 percentduring last summer's drought.

Nestle also pointed out

that municipalities, mines,construction companies, andgolf courses also take waterfrom Ontario's sources. In all,

1.4 trillion litres are withdrawn

daily - and bottling companiesaccount for just 0.001 percentof this amount. So if Nestles

water usage is causing a problem- then other water users are

causing even bigger problems.

lookinc aheadAs the debate played out overthe summer and fall, OntarioPremier Kathleen Wynneacknowledged that the province'swater permit policies hadn't beenupdated in 30 years. She askedher government to have a closerlook at them, and make changes.The government also said it maybe time to educate the publicabout bottled water, too.

drinking mmmIN CANADAThe Canadian Food InspectionAgency is in charge of makingsure that bottled water is

safe. Provincial environmentministries issue permits to

collect the water. In Ontario,

these permits are valid for up toten years at a time.

Most bottled water producedin Canada is sold here. In 2015,

Canadians bought 2.5 billionlitres of bottled water - about 68litres per person.

Tap water is monitored bythe provinces, territories, and

municipalities who test theirwater sources constantly. Across

the nation, tap water is safe -

except in about one-quarter

of First Nations communities.

There, water must be boiled first.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeauhas promised to eliminatethis problem. Last March,

the Liberals set aside nearly$2 billion to achieve this goal.

"We need to look at the culturearound bottled water," said

deputy premier Deb Matthews."Why are we drinking water outof bottles when most of us don'tneed to?" ÿ

DEFIfcimONSaquifer: an underground layer of permeable rock, sediment, or soil that yields waterdrought: a prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall; a shortage of water resulting from this

pace 10 WHAT m THE WORLD? - LEVEL 1 2016 2017: issue 5

feg&ga national .

M NEmrS WATERON THE LINES

Answer the following in complete sentences:

i. What has happened to Nestles bottled-water sales In North America over the past 20 years?

2. How much bottled water is sold in Canada?

3. What do water-bottling companies say are some advantages of their product?

4. How much water does Nestles Aberfoyle bottling plant produce per year?

5. What cost objections did critics make when the permit for this plant came up for renewal last July?

6. List at least one other reason why some people were upset at Nestle.

7. What did the Ontario government announce on January 1st concerning water bottling permits?

8. What did the province announce in mid-January?

j016/2017: issue 5 WHAT !M THE WORLD? - LEVEL 1 pace 11

science, technology and the environment

ENERGY FROM THE TIDES

The Bay of Fundy separates NovaScotia from New Brunswick.

It has the biggest tides in theworld. They're over 16 metres in

Imagine the flow from all thefreshwater rivers in the world.

Now, multiply that by four.That's how much water rushes in

and out of the Bay twice a day -160 billion tonnes.

The incoming tide moves from

the outer Bay through MinasPassage into the smaller MinasBasin. The current is especiallypowerful there. It reaches peaksurface speeds of up to sixmetres per second.

RENEWABLE enercyWhat if all of this kinetic energycould be captured and used as a

BAY Ol FUNDY TIDESTides are caused by the moon's gravity pulling on the Earth's oceans.

This creates a bulge on the surface of the ocean at the side of the moon.As the moon revolves around the Earth, it pulls the bulge with it.

Why are the tides in the Bay of Fundy the world's highest? The Bay ofFundy water has a natural oscillation. Picture water sloshing back andforth in a bathtub. The oscillation in a bathtub takes only a second ortwo, but the water in the Bay of Fundy takes between 12 and 13 hours torock from the mouth of the bay to the head of the bay and back again.That temporarily raises the surface water at each end.

Meanwhile tides flood into the Bay twice a day. The tide reinforces theoscillation. It's like giving an extra push to a child on a swing to makethe swing arc higher. In addition, since the Bay is shaped like a largenatural funnel, it becomes narrower and shallower towards its upper

part. That forces rising tides even higher.

source of power? That's exactly

what scientists want to find out.

On November 22, they lowereda huge turbine to the sea floorof the Minas Basin. The turbine

is five stories high and weighs

2000 tonnes. It looks somewhatlike a giant jet engine but it spinslike an underwater windmill.

The power the turbine creates isgenerating electricity. It travelsthrough underwater cables

definitionskinetic energy: the energy that is produced whensomething movesoscillate: move or swing back and forth at a regular speed

turbine: a machine for producing continuous power inwhich a wheel or rotor, typically fitted with vanes, is made torevolve by a fast-moving flow of water, steam, gas, air, or otherfluid

Pace 20 WHAT IN THE WORLD? - LEVEL 1 2016 2017: issul 5

science, Technology and the Environment

INER@Y FROM THE TIDESconnected to Nova Scotia's Costs will eventually drop. Still,

power grid. This one turbine some experts say tidal powergenerates two megawatts of won't be affordable for years.electricity. That's enough to „ . , , , ^ ^ ,

] D Bquipment also has to withstandpower 500 homes. , ,r harsh conditions. A $io-million

"It's a huge milestone in the tidal turbine tested seven years ago

industry," said project manager lasted just days before its bladesJeremy Poste. were ripped off by the tidal

testing... current"

The turbine is the first of its kind are also environmentalto be installed at Fundy Ocean issues- WiU turbines or their

Research Centre for Energy noise disturb marine life? Will(FORCE). The Nova Scotia they reduce lobster fishing, sogovernment created FORCE for important to the region?

developers to test-drive their yet tidal power also has much toturbines in one of the most offer. It doesn't burn fossil fuelspowerful currents in the world. or produce greenhouse gases. It's

At FORCE, companies have a^so Pred^c^ab^e and rehable. Thean observation facility on wind doesn,t always blow andland and "berths" for the the sun doesn't always shine. The

experimental turbines. As well, ^de> bowever> keeps coming in

they have access to underwater and out' on scbedule.

power cables and other special a big step forward

equipment. ^ ^ to ^ ^

harnessing the tide outweigh the drawbacks. Still,„ r 1 t A Nova Scotia Energy MinisterSo tar, tidal power has not ,,110 ,1 1

1 1 _ Michel Samson called it a newattracted much attention . _. _ . _ ,

7 1 /> r era as he nipped the first switch,compared to other forms of rrrenewable energy. The reason? "We are taking an

The technology needed to unprecedented step towards acapture tidal energy is still lower carbon future," he said. ÿ

developing.

The energy produced by theMinas Basin prototype is abouteight times more expensive thanthe average of other sources.

definitions

OTHER SOURCES OFRENEWABLE ENERGYMoving water (rivers thatgenerate hydroelectric power)is Canada's most important

renewable energy source. It

provides about 59 percent of ourelectricity generation. Quebec

produces the most hydroelectricenergy. B.C., Newfoundland andLabrador, Ontario and Manitobaalso produce large quantities.

Wind energy accounts for 3.5percent of electricity production,largely from wind farms inOntario, Quebec and Alberta.

Bioenergy generates 1.4 percentof Canada's electricity. It uses

energy from the sun stored inbiological material. The mostcommon source is wood or wood

waste burned to make heat or

steam for generating electricity inpulp and paper mills.

Solar energy is also afast-growing power sourcein Canada. The sun's energy,

collected in solar panels, heatswater or air. Solar cells can also

convert sunlight into electricity.

Geothermal energy is capturedfrom heat stored beneath theEarth s surface, or from heat

in the atmosphere and oceans.

Heat pumps now installed inmany homes and businesses use

the difference in temperaturebetween the outside air and theground or groundwater.

era: a period of time that has a particular quality orcharacter

unprecedented: never having happened or existed before

2016/2017: issue 5 what in the world? - level 1 Pace 21

I nSCIENCE, TECHNOLOCY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

FROM THE TIDESON THE LINES

Answer the following in complete sentences:

i. Which body of water has the highest tides in the world?

2. How much water flows in and out during each tide?

3. Describe the electric equipment that was installed on the ocean floor in late November.

4. What is the purpose of this huge turbine? Explain how it works.

5. How much electricity can this turbine generate?

6. Explain what FORCE is.

List at least two benefits of tidal power.

8. List at least two unknown or negative drawbacks of tidal power.

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