Waterloo Region - Over the next several weeks, officials from the Region of Waterloo’s Water Services Division, in partnership with the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), will place a safe, environmentally-friendly, “fluorescing” dye into the Grand River near West Montrose, Mill Creek in Cambridge, and the Hidden Valley wetland in Kitchener, temporarily giving these watercourse systems a red tint. The study is part of a Ministry of the Environment funded program to assess the vulnerability of municipal drinking water supplies.

The undertaking is known as a “dye tracer test” – a common way to determine the travel time in watercourses to protect drinking water supply intakes. During the test, the dye will be “injected” in to the river at several locations over a period of days and the travel time and dye dilution will be measured at downstream locations. The test may appear to turn the watercourses red temporarily where the dye is placed. It will dilute quickly as it moves downstream, eventually becoming invisible.

The dye tracer testing is one component of a series of municipal drinking water supply source protection studies the Region is conducting with the GRCA in support of the Province’s Clean Water Act.