Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Feb 04/02) - The city of Iqaluit is looking for 11 Apex residents willing to test a chemical-free method of treating sewage.

The plan is to pipe water from the residents' homes to a nearby treatment shed.

There, the "grey water" will be treated through an advanced system of filters and then recycled for use in toilets and laundry washing machines.

According to Matthew Hough, director of engineering, toilets are responsible for 40 to 50 per cent of water use in most homes. And yet, there is no need for pure water in toilets.

Hough said pursuing this option despite having the brand new sewage-treatment plant makes sense.

"It's one thing to have a sewage treatment plant that will serve the core of Iqaluit," he said. "It's another thing to run pipes all the way from Apex and Tundra Valley to the plant. The infrastructure costs go up incredibly when you have to pipe sewage up hill."

The city teamed up with a Toronto-based environmental group and received both a grant and loan for the $325,000 project from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Jens Steenberg uses a similar system for recycling water at his bed and breakfast, Accommodations by the Sea. Steenberg says the water is crystal clear and odour-free.

"We're using treated water in this town for flushing toilets and it's costing a fortune," he said.

Steenberg doesn't use his treated grey water for drinking. But he sent samples to a lab in Ottawa and the tests found the water was clean enough to drink if he really wanted to.

The city is holding a public meeting Feb. 21 for homeowners interested in taking part. There is one catch. "The problem is we need a cluster of homes," said Hough. "That's going to be tough to figure out."