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KAHBABIUE/COLVILLE LAKE
Colville Lake's water delivery system needs an emergency backup, says the town's band manager.

The community's water treatment plant has not been operational since last September when the weights holding the plant's water intake pipe shifted, said Bill Buckle, director of community operations with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. The pipe floated to the surface and it was too late in the season to make repairs because ice was already forming on the lake.

The community is serviced by a water truck, which is now taking water directly from Colville Lake where it is treated inside the vehicle before being delivered to households.

Water from the lake is tested for turbidity before chlorine is added inside the truck, Buckle said. Water is tested again about 20 minutes after it is chlorinated.

Random households are also tested intermittently.

Buckle said Colville Lake is a deep, unpolluted lake.

"Colville Lake is one of the cleanest lakes in the North," he said. "It's one of those lakes you'd call 'pristine'."

Band manager Joseph Kochon said he worries about what would happen if the town didn't have a water truck to fill the void.

"Right now we don't have any pumps, so the water truck is working really hard," he said. "What happens if it breaks down? It's the only water truck we have. We're just thinking ahead to ensure we have daily water service."

That's why Kochon and staff aimed to hold a meeting with Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs Robert McLeod.

Kochon said the community needs a secondary intake pipe so water can still be siphoned from the lake if the first one fails.

"If we had further problems with the water intake facility, then at least we have a backup and we're not stuck with making do with what we have," he said. "It's always good to have a backup plan."

This will reduce stress on the town's only water truck, Kochon said.

"What if we had no other way of providing water?" he said.

The plant was built in 2008 and cost about $2 million. In 2009, the plant's furnace broke down and the plant froze. The cost of those repairs was not available by press time.

Kochon said a major push to equip homes in Colville Lake with indoor plumbing took place last fall. Now 20 homes have functioning water and sewer equipment.

"We had a plumber here that worked day and night to get the 20 houses hooked up," Kochon said.

The houses already had sewage and water tanks and only required minor electrical and plumbing work to get them online. Kochon said ten homes remain without plumbing.

Buckle said those houses are unable to receive an upgrade."It started out as a little cabin community so a lot of the houses never had the facilities put in," he said.

The houses are privately owned. Colville Lake has a population of 150 people.

Buckle said repair work would begin in the spring. He said it is too early to tell how long repairs could take. The cost is also unknown at this time.

"It could be a simple fix if there is no damage to the water intake," he said. "If there is damages it could become a bit more complex."

Dr. Andre Corriveau, the territory's chief medical officer of health, said there is no connection between problems at the water plant and a recent outbreak of skin infections in the community.

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