Skiing down the river

As I crossed the St. Patrick Street bridge across the Rideau my eye was caught by the tracks on the river's white surface below me, in an almost perfect herringbone pattern. Someone who trusts the thickness of the ice at this time of year had been skate-skiing right down the middle of the river. I came back across the bridge later and noticed the footprints of both people and animals, mostly closer to the bank. Someone had been walking along on top of the river in snowshoes too.

Talk of sewage and salt

Should the city's environmental priority be Light Rail or sewage control?—that is the issue in the local news at the moment.

It's raining today and the city's water pipes will be in full use, draining dirty water from the salted roads. What goes down the drain is a subject of hot debate, with the Ottawa Riverkeeper website publishing their opinion on the matter in their blog and on their news page.

"According to Ecology Ottawa, the city discharged 417 million litres of sewage and rainwater into the river in 2011. That’s enough to fill 166—wait for it—Olympic-sized swimming pools. People may differ on whether LRT or the Ottawa River is the city’s main priority, but I think we can all agree it’s time to come up with a new gigantic unit of volume."

Long shadows and shining trees

The winter sun is low in the sky. Long blue shadows lie across the snow at the river's edge and ice sparkles in the maple trees after last night's freezing rain.

We were out walking in that rain and particularly exposed to it while crossing the bridges over the Rideau, struggling to keep our feet from slipping. All for the sake of a breath of fresh air.

Down by the riverside ... it's colder!

Cold, bright weather at Britannia Point on the Ottawa

During the current cold snap, people have been noticing and commenting upon the difference in temperature measurements between the temperature readings at Ottawa International Airport (formerly "Uplands"––374 ft ASL) and at Gatineau (211 ft ASL), hardly any distance further north, but closer to the Ottawa River. Here's an article from the Ottawa Citizen that explains the phenomenon.

Cold air is heavy and it drains. [...] That’s why White River was for years considered the coldest place in Canada. It’s in what we call a frost hollow.

Actually the temperature in White River today is +1ºC, whereas in Gatineau it's -12º (feels like -19º).

Ontario weather is variable.

A home made ice rink

I see that I can "share this picture" (posted on The Weather Network) on my blog, if I wish. Pointe Gatineau is at the conjunction of the Ottawa and Gatineau Rivers.

Well done, Mr. Savage!

Purifying the river water

In Ottawa, our drinking water comes from the river, but not before it's been filtered through the Water Purification Plants (WPPs):

Part of the Water Purification Plant at Britannia

At Britannia and Lemieux Water Purification Plants, sophisticated water purification techniques are used to treat Ottawa River water to drinking water quality standards. The source water from the river, while of excellent quality, does present a number of challenges to the treatment process. Seasonal variations in temperature and suspended organic loading in the summer require changes and on-going monitoring of the treatment processes and resulting water quality. The water treatment process consists primarily of the removal of particles from the source water by the processes of coagulation, mixing, settling and filtration. Once the partially treated water is passed through the filters, chlorine is added as a primary disinfectant in order to meet the Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards. Other chemicals are also added to the water for corrosion control purposes within the distribution system and for dental health purposes. The Ministry of the Environment inspects all of the City’s drinking water systems on an annual basis and have found them to produce excellent water quality.

We passed the Britannia Plant the other day on a walk around Mud Lake.

The water is distributed to city dwellers through 15 pump stations, besides which some of the outlying communities rely on groundwater wells.

That quotation from the City of Ottawa website is a bit vague about the additives (other than chlorine) that we're drinking in our water; the perceived wisdom suggests that they're doing us more good than harm, but like many other people, I like to supplement my drinking water with spring water from time to time. At present this can be collected for free from the spring on the hillside at Wakefield. I hope the containers I use don't contaminate it.

Dormant

The winch

Life on the Ottawa River seems suspended during the winter. The Rockcliffe Yacht Club's boat winch stands neglected in the snow, waiting to be used next season, and the plants on the bank are in a state of dormancy too, making shapely silhouettes in shades of black, dull brown and grey.

All the same, these off-season scenes have an allure that can be addictive. Best wear skis or snowshoes on the riverside trail; the snow is deeper here than in other places. With the bank facing away from the sun it doesn't melt so fast.

Sumac in winter

Milkweed stalks

Sunset, moonrise

Here are three views from the edge of the Ottawa River taken yesterday afternoon around 4 p.m. (on the Ontario bank below Rockcliffe airport).

Crossing the river by 'plane

Precipitation to the west, looking towards Arnprior

Up there, the views are different. Yesterday's flight was particularly awe-inspiring because of the unusual atmospheric conditions, rising moisture from the city forming swathes of mist and the sun low in the sky casting its rays through a grey overcast; intermittent winter showers were blowing in from the west down the Ottawa Valley. On the ground it was calm; a few hundred feet AGL the upper winds began to be noticeable. You can see the effect of the wind sheer on the plume of steam from the Kruger tissue mill (beyond the Alexandra Bridge) in these pictures.

Ottawa and Gatineau on a winter's afternoon

After I had come down to earth, my husband took another, better photographer (Chuck Clark) flying as well, by which time we were experiencing the full splendour of a winter sunset. The pictures he took are sensational.

Across the bridge

Alexandra Bridge from the Ontario side, January 2012

Yesterday being a fine day I decided to walk to a friend's apartment on the Quebec side of the Ottawa river. She lives at 175 ave. Laurier and to get there on foot, it's best to pass the National Gallery and cross the oldest interprovincial bridge in town, the Alexandra Bridge. It was built at the turn of the (19th-20th) century and opened in 1901 as a Canadian-Pacific railway bridge; it was used for that purpose until 1966. The Ontario-to-Quebec lane for motor traffic overhangs the river to the right of the main cantilever bridge and its metal surface vibrates with a terrible rumbling noise when you drive across it. On the other side is the pathway of wooden planks for cyclists and pedestrians. Traffic driving from Quebec to Ontario use the original part.

Alexandra Bridge seen from a window of the Great Hall
at the Musée des Civilisations in Gatineau

On the Quebec side of the Ottawa River the Museum of Civilisation (Musée des Civilisations, plural, in French, which in my opinion is a better description of what the museum offers) stands on the shore to the west of the bridge and from its windows a fine view of the river, the bridge and, indeed, most of Ottawa's famous landmarks. Yesterday was a particularly good day for views, the sky being crisp and clear and the Gatineau Hills on the horizon covered in snow.

In the afternoon after visiting the museum as well as my friend I walked all the way back home as well.