Garielle Cheung, Jasmine Kour, Jay Patel, Marcelino Rodriguez
The Oneida Tribe has been suffering from the lack of sanitary water for years as a result of the faulty sewage system in London, Ontario. The city currently uses combined sewage pipes that cannot sustain the sewage and rainwater, thus, the untreated water overflows into the Thames River. By pouring untreated water back to the Thames River, the city is polluting what once was a clean water source. Fortunately, the citizens of London, Ontario who are living within the limits of the new $176 million water system upgrade are not affected, because their clean water is supplied by both Lake Huron and Lake Erie[1]. However, those who rely on the Thames River as their main source of clean water live in fear every day as their health becomes endangered.
Thames River London, Ontario.
The outdated sewage system is incapable of handling the city’s increasing population and the surge of rainfall, leading to the discharge of unsanitary water into the Thames River, which heavily affects the surrounding indigenous communities such as the Oneida Nation Tribe with a current population of 2172 residents [5]. Although, the City of London, Ontario has implemented solutions to upgrade the outdated system in order to have clean water pour into the Thames River. The problem is unresolved yet because the duration of the project is estimated to take 3 years [6] which is relatively long and, the short-term effects would be critical for communities as Oneida Nation will still be affected by the pollution of their main source of clean water the Thames River.
