Whale Cove waits for water filtration unit

Whale Cove, shown along the Hudson Bay coast in red, is in its 15th week of a boil water alert prompted by levels of coliform found in the Kivalliq community’s drinking water.

The Government of Nunavut has issued an autumn boil water advisory to residents of Whale Cove, who haven’t had access to safe drinking water since June.

The Kivalliq community has seen coliform bacteria in its drinking water source over the last few summers, prompting the government to issue repeated warnings.

Coliform is a type of bacteria that occurs naturally in plants, soil and in the digestive tracts of humans and animals, although humans are at risk of becoming ill from water-borne coliform.

So for the 15th week running, health officials continue to ask residents to boil any water they plan to consume for at least one minute.

That includes water used for cooking, brushing teeth and preparing ice cubes and infant formula.

To fix the issue—at least temporarily—the federal and territorial governments announced in August a $500,000 temporary water treatment unit for Whale Cove, now en route to the community via sealift.

The unit is scheduled for the last sealift of the year, which should arrive in Whale Cove around Oct. 25.

By that time, it’s unclear if snowfall will make it too difficult to install, said Ian Copland, the senior administrative officer at the Hamlet of Whale Cove.

In any case, coliform levels are likely to have dropped by then, as the bacteria has only been found in the local water source during the summer.

In the past, hamlet officials blamed the presence of bacteria on heavy rains in the spring months, which were thought to have possibly contaminated the community’s water source, a lake just outside the village.

Copland said further testing suggests it could be bacteria transferred from an outcrop of rocks surrounding the lake.

But the GN’s health department said this week that the source of the coliform bacteria in the water system is still unknown.

“Hopefully we’ll get it resolved this year,” Copland said. “But we’ll still have to push a permanent structure.”

For more information, residents can call the regional environmental health officer in Rankin Inlet at 867-645-8071 or 867-645-6660.