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On May 24, 2000, Canadians learned about a shocking news report that several citizens in this country had died and many others were very ill as a result of contaminated drinking water. Walkerton, Ontario, is a town of about 5,000 people located 145 km west of Toronto. In May 2000, a horrible event occurred. The town's drinking water caused people to die! On May 17, 2000, water samples in Walkerton were found to contain E. coli. Nothing was done! The result was that 2,300 people became sick and 7 people died after drinking the water. In this activity, you will learn more about this terrible tragedy.

How could drinking water cause a person to get so sick or even die, especially water that has been treated in a facility to purify it? In Walkerton, it was caused by a deadly bacteria. E. coli is a short name for bacteria called Escherichia coli. E. coli live in the intestines of mammals, including humans.

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In Walkerton, the bacteria were type 0157:H7. This specific type of E. coli is found in the intestines of cattle and is transmitted most commonly through undercooked meat or unpasteurized milk. In the human body, these bacteria cause dehydration by fever and diarrhea. They also cause blood pressure to rise. Long-term effects include constant high blood pressure, kidney damage, chronic diarrhea, and allergies.

Click here to go to the CBC website to watch a video that further explains the tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario.

Discovering that E. coli was the cause of this tragedy was only the beginning of the story. To ensure that this did not happen again, it was very important to conduct a full investigation to find out what caused the contamination and why it went unreported. At first, microbiologist Gary Palmateer and water expert Rick Turnball were suspicious that the bacteria leaked into Well 7. In fact, it was found later that the bacteria entered at Well 5. A farmer close to Well 5 had spread 70 tonnes of cattle manure over a field near Well 5. On May 12, 2000, a downpour hit and, through no fault of the farmer, manure seeped into Well 5.

After the tragedy, the focus was to make sure that something like this would never happen again. Stan Koebel, the person in charge of the water for Walkerton, explained the chain of events that allowed the tragedy to happen. During his testimony, Koebel revealed that he had falsified tests and provincial water safety reports for over 20 years. He also revealed that he and his brother had been trained and promoted without having taken courses or exams. Stan and his brother, Frank, pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of common nuisance, but many felt that there were other officials who should have also faced charges.

Click here to go to the CBC website to listen to an audio about the Koebel brothers.

Click here to go to the CBC website to watch a video about the Koebel
brothers pleading guilty.

If this event had occurred in a large city such as Toronto, more than a million people would have become sick and several thousand would have died. After watching all of this, do you take for granted the safety of the water you drink?

Click here to go to the CBC website to watch a video about the Canada's drinking water after the Walkerton tragedy.