Nunavut hamlet’s reservoir melting, water supply safe

Now that ice has melted at Igloolik’s main water reservoir, the Hamlet of Igloolik lifted its boil water advisory on the afternoon of July 17. (FILE PHOTO)

Hamlet officials in Igloolik have lifted a boil-water advisory that has been in effect since June 10, when the north Baffin community’s frozen reservoir ran dry of melt water.

“We got positive results back today, testing the water for safety, and lifted the boil water advisory this afternoon,” Joasai Kudlu, public works director for the hamlet, told Nunatsiaq News July 17.

The past month has been stressful for many in the community of about 2,000, Kudlu said, as residents were advised to boil water before consuming it and to conserve water by cutting back on such things as showering and laundry.

“I feel much better now. And now we can shower without having to worry so much about conserving water,” Kudlu said.

Brian Fleming, senior administrative officer for the hamlet, told Nunatsiaq News June 10 that the hamlet’s frozen water reservoir wasn’t melting fast enough to meet the water demands of the community.

Fleming has since left his position in Igloolik, which he held for about 10 years, for employment in Iqaluit, Kudlu said.

Initially, hamlet officials, with help from the Government of Nunavut’s department of Community and Government Services, came up with a short-term solution: trucking water to the community from nearby South Lake.

But that water smelled of rotten eggs and tasted bad, Fleming said.

“It was pretty brutal,” the former SAO said June 18.

Trucks began sucking water out of Fish Lake instead, delivering their cargo to the reservoir for chlorine treatment, before making home deliveries.

But little critters called flukes, with flat gelatinous bodies a few centimeters in length, horrified some residents when they appeared in their drinking and bathing water.

Fleming said filters were fitted on the intake valves to prevent them from getting into the water supply, but a boil-advisory remained in effect until the hamlet received test results from Ottawa ensuring the water’s safety for consumption.

The trucks were eventually replaced with a 13-kilometer pipe, Kudlu said, that went over tundra and sea ice.

Positive water test results were received July 17, Kudlu said.

Frozen water is no longer an issue in the hamlet’s reservoir, Kudlu added.