Microbrewery a great idea, but where's the water going to come from?

Nov 30, 2007

To the Editor:

I read the article about the idea of having a microbrewery in South River. The idea would be really nice except for one thing: South River’s ongoing and never-ending water problem with rust and the new bylaw that restricts water usage in the village all summer long.

I’m sure that the village’s council members would never give approval to such a notion unless they had conducted their own study on how much water would be needed for such a business. Even if the water is to be trucked in — because I can’t imagine anyone producing beer with ‘OUR’ water — our water would have to be used for sterilizing the bottles.

Many residents, including my family and I, have had to rely on outside drinking water sources for the past few decades and there doesn’t appear to be any relief in sight. If anyone has ever sat and watched the ‘flushing of the hydrants,’ no one would ever want to drink this water. Plumes of rust jet out 20 feet or so into the ditches and into neighbouring yards. Instead of allowing everyone to water for a max. of two hours a day during the summer, the village bylaw allows some to water 24/7 and others (are) restricted to every second day for the allowed time.

What kind of management is that! Due to that kind of abuse of our water system we may run out some time in the future.

In that article our Mayor was concerned about the waste product from such a venture and where that (waste) would be taken and that is something that must be investigated first. But I’m worried that the water we need to water our gardens and lawns and even (for) household use for laundry and bathing could be further restricted because this kind of operation will require hundreds of gallons to sterilize the bottles during the bottling process.

Just how much added pressure this will place on our water filtration plant is a concern that must nott not