By OpenStats · Built from official Canadian sources
Regional estimateWater quality grade
Good
Graded against Health Canada drinking water guidelines
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Salmon Arm's drinking water earns Grade B (Good). Hardness is 103 mg/L (moderate), and pH is 8.1 against Health Canada's 6.5–8.5 guideline.
Lead at 0.7 μg/L is below the 5 μg/L maximum, and fluoride is 0.6 mg/L against a guideline of ≤ 1.5 mg/L.
How to use this page: read the headline metric and provincial comparison first, then supply and treatment notes, then the source footer for the underlying dataset.
Watershed to tap
How Salmon Arm draws, treats, and distributes drinking water, from municipal and utility publications. Chemistry grades above come from separate parameter records; this section does not invent plant lab figures.
Surface water
Research confidence: high
Salmon Arm Water Treatment Plant (Canoe Beach / Shuswap Lake)
Online 2009: coagulation/polymer, dual-media filters, UV, sodium hypochlorite. Nominal 40 ML/d.
Metford Dam / East Canoe Creek disinfection
UV and sodium hypochlorite; used only when turbidity <1 NTU. Gravity feed from higher elevation.
~204 km watermain, eight pressure zones, fourteen reservoirs, seven pump stations.
Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity above the 1 NTU typical target.
Health parameters meet Health Canada limits; turbidity exceeds the typical 1 NTU aesthetic target.
Figure 1 · Supply chain
From watershed to tap
British Columbia · 58 cities in sample
Provincial average: hardness 142 mg/L · pH 7.6 · lead 0.4 μg/L · fluoride 0.6 mg/L
| Parameter | Reading | Health Canada guideline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 103 mg/L | No health limit (aesthetic) | Compliant |
| pH | 8.1 | 6.5–8.5 | Compliant |
| Lead | 0.7 μg/L | ≤ 5 μg/L | Compliant |
| Fluoride | 0.6 mg/L | ≤ 1.5 mg/L | Compliant |
| Chlorine (free) | 1.2 mg/L | ≤ 4 mg/L | Compliant |
| Turbidity | 2.4 NTU | ≤ 1 NTU (typical target) | Exceeds guideline |
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Salmon Arm pairs 103 mg/L hardness with 1.2 mg/L chlorine — taste and scale show up together. Elite carbon for drinking, shower filter for chlorine, strips so you know when you need a softener.
As an Amazon Associate, OpenStats earns from qualifying purchases.
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