By MPP Bobbi Ann Brady
Water woes have been the topic of discussion across Ontario over the past few years. Multiple municipalities are facing various water-related issues, including decades-old infrastructure, some dating back over 100 years. Obviously replacing and repairing these systems is not cheap.
As we know, a multi-year, multi-phase plan that would see drinking water piped into Norfolk, Six Nations, and throughout Haldimand County from a giant treatment plant in Nanticoke has been on the table for about four years. The price tag on this project rang in at about $450 million. A story in the Hamilton Spectator last March was titled: Norfolk banking on flood of cash from province, Ottawa to fund $450-million water system. The first phase of the project to pipe water to Norfolk’s border at Townsend was $110 million.
I made it clear, despite some political jabbing at me, I would support what our counties were proposing but I was not convinced the federal and provincial governments would come up with the funds, especially given every municipality is in the same boat.
The Ontario Budget 2025 allocated $2.3 billion over four years to housing-enabling infrastructure with only $1.3 billion earmarked for the Housing-Enabling Water Systems Fund. This puts the $450 million ask in perspective in my opinion and someone within government had told me quite some time ago the ask was far too rich.
I encouraged the need for a plan B and even spoke about it on the campaign trail this winter. I was being realistic. Just a few weeks ago, the story appeared locally that Norfolk County was heading ‘back to the drawing board’ for water supply solutions. Good.
With our local demographic and financial realities in mind, I recently met with representatives from a Turkish outfit — Miranda Water Technologies. I am not a water expert, but this encounter gave me hope that perhaps a plan B is closer than we think.
Miranda was founded in 2008 in Ankara, Turkey. Mandated to deal with the world’s ever-increasing water management concerns. As their elevator speech says: “We develop innovative, modular, and sustainable solutions for communities, businesses, and industries worldwide.”
The way I understand it, modular water technology allows municipalities to unlock capacity without overhauling entire systems. Instead of planning 20 to 30 years down the road, municipalities can choose more flexible management options on a per development or project basis. Ontario has updated land use and housing policies, which enable our municipalities to approve developments that utilize decentralized or communal water and wastewater systems. This creates an exciting opportunity to take the pressure off existing infrastructure without locking taxpayers into multi-year capital expansion projects. Such technology is also said to reduce environmental impact and improve system resilience.
Please note this is not an endorsement for Miranda Water Technologies as there might be others out there who undertake similar work. But I do believe these technologies are worth deeper consideration. I think within our current municipal framework, we must think outside the box, we must have a plan B, and it behooves local leadership to look at all options available to the municipality. We know the taxpayer cannot afford more.
Bobbi Ann Brady is the MPP for Haldimand-Norfolk