Big money sunk into Nunavut town’s water woes

The Government of Nunavut spent over half a million dollars in emergency measures two years ago after high sodium levels were first detected in Sanikiluaq’s water reservoir. (FILE PHOTO)

The Government of Nunavut spent more than half a million dollars on emergency measures two years ago after high sodium levels were first detected in Sanikiluaq’s water reservoir, according to reports recently tabled in the Nunavut legislative assembly.

Since high sodium levels were discovered in 2016, the lack of from-the-tap potable water continues to plague Sanikiluaq homes, and a permanent solution has yet to be announced by the government.

High sodium intake can have adverse effects on people with weakened immune systems, such as infants or elders, or people with high blood pressure.

According to the GN’s 2016-17 procurement activity report, more than $664,000 was spent in the government’s initial response to Sanikiluaq’s water emergency, for such items as arranging bottled water shipments, plumbing services, booking charters and installing reverse osmosis filters.

That sum works out to about $752 dollars per person in the hamlet of 882 people, based on the community’s population estimate in the 2016 census.

One item, named “Emergency Freight Charter for Water” was the largest listed item, consisting of a $226,693 contract with airline Calm Air Ltd.

And about $54,000 was spent to install 230 reverse osmosis filters in nearly every residential home in Sanikiluaq.

Those devices screen sodium from household tap water, in what former-Community and Government Services minister, Joe Savikataaq, called a short-term solution in 2016.

The GN spent another $63,000 on an item listed as “Maintenance of Water Filters” later that fiscal year, according to the procurement data.

The filters would have to be changed once every six months to a year, depending on the volume of use, Savikataaq said in Nunavut’s legislature on Oct. 21, 2016.

Other items named in the procurement report include two orders of $6,107 for bottled water sent to the community, along with two larger orders of $22,785—one dubbed “Water Emergency, Bottled Water Supply” and another simply titled “Water Emergency” and purchased from Arctic Co-operatives Ltd.

The CGS department also paid Nuna Mechanical Ltd. $214,492 for a contract in Sanikiluaq for a service only specified as a “Water Emergency.”

And another $39,000 contract was given to Calm Air Ltd. and was also dubbed “Water Emergency.”

Hudson Bay MLA Allan Rumbolt said that while most Sanikiluaq residents aren’t feeling inconvenienced by using the reverse osmosis filters, he will continue to push CGS to develop a long-term solution.

But a big hurdle so far has been isolating the cause of the high sodium, and tests so far have proven inconclusive.

“[CGS] checked a couple [of] alternate water sources and that came back not much better than what our current water source is,” Rumbolt told Nunatsiaq News on April 5.

“They said they were going to look at different options and what those option are I’m not sure, whether it’s going to have to be to put some kind of filtration plant in the community or if they have some other plans in mind, I don’t know.”

CGS spokesperson Kris Mullaly told Nunatsiaq News on April 17 that salinity levels in Sanikiluaq’s water peaked between 2014 and 2015, going over acceptable levels mandated in in the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines.

“[CGS] have been doing year-round testing in a couple of potential raw water sources and looking at treatment options to ensure that Sanikiluaq will have a sustainable supply of potable water that meets the Canadian Drinking Water Guidelines,” Mullaly said.

Since the amount reported in the 2016-17 procurement data, Mullaly said the GN has spent an additional $48,000 on water treatment strategies, as well as $72,000 on the maintenance and replacement of reverse osmosis filters, as well as other services.

Since 2016, CGS has also directed approximately $208,000 in funding from the Government of Canada Federal Gas Tax Fund to conduct testing and finance studies looking into possible long-term solutions.