Bacteria forces boil water advisories
Warnings for three communities ended; Whale Cove still plagued by bacteria in water supply
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
TIKIRARJUAQ/WHALE COVE
A familiar time of year has arrived for many Nunavut communities: as summer sweeps in, so do the boil water advisories.
So far this summer, the hamlets of Arviat and Baker Lake, Naujaat and Whale Cove have all been put under boil water advisories.
While warnings in Naujaat, Arviat and Baker Lake have all been lifted, Whale Cove is still having to boil its water due the presence of total coliform bacteria in the water supply.
According to a public health advisory from the Department of Health, residents of Whale Cove should bring water to a rolling boil for at least a minute if they plan to use it for drinking, preparing infant formulas, preparing juices and ice cubes, washing fruits and vegetables, cooking and brushing teeth.
Whale Cove senior administrative officer Ian Copland said Whale Cove has faced summer boil water advisories for years.
"It's just frustrating, having to boil your drinking water," he said.
The community draws its water from a lake a couple miles from town, where a pumphouse has been fitted with chlorine treatment tanks. However, the pumphouse lacks a filtration and UV system.
"Without (those systems), it seems once the lake warms up in the summertime, there's a bit too much bacteria in the water to make it safe to drink," Copland explained.
Nadine Purdy, manager of communications for the Department of Health, stated in an e-mail the government has a consultant looking at the source of the bacteria but has come to not yet come to any definitive conclusions.
"We know that sources don't stay constant and total coliforms indicate surface influence," she stated, adding that includes runoff from the land.
Copland said the community has a portable water treatment unit being shipped in mid-to late-August, which is expected to arrive in early September. The unit includes both filtration and UV systems.
"This will be a big improvement and it will eliminate the need for boiling our water," Copland said.
"I would think by mid-September we would be off the boil water advisory and able to drink our water."
Before that happens, Copland said the Issatik Co-op has plans to bring in a reverse osmosis system.
"That will help out also, and that will be in before the water treatment (unit). We would have to purchase our water from them," he explained.
The Issatik Co-op could not provide details on the system by press time.
Purdy stated the advisory for Whale Cove is a precautionary measure.
"The risk of harm is very low."
