Halifax utility takes extra water precautions ahead of annual polar bear dip
HALIFAX — A Halifax utility has taken special precautions to keep harbour bacteria levels within swimming guidelines ahead of the annual New Year’s Day plunge — although water-quality issues don’t seem to faze the brave souls willing to leap into the icy ocean.
Halifax Water shut off its ultra-violet lights — the final component in the sewage and wastewater treatment process — in November at four of its plants to lower energy bills over the winter.
Kenda MacKenzie, the utility’s director of regulatory services, said those lights were turned back on Dec. 19, in anticipation of the annual Herring Cove Polar Bear Dip, which usually draws about 200 people to the village on the western side of Halifax’s harbour.
But MacKenzie said tests conducted before the lights were turned back on showed bacteria levels were within swimming guidelines, and tests conducted Thursday said the same.