Pricey pools make a splash with wet set in Nunavik

This popular swimming pool in Kuujjuaraapik costs $250,000 a year to operate, but Nunavik officials believe the expense is worth it.

KANGIQSUJUAQ — Pool operators in Nunavik say the facilities they maintain are worth the effort it takes to keep them open.

The swimming pool is still a relatively new – not to mention high-maintenance — addition to the region’s municipal infrastructure.

But residents who use them are lapping it up.

Over the last decade, pools have opened in five of the region’s communities, while a sixth will be constructed this year.

The pools’ popularity with locals might come in waves, said Kuujjuaraapik lifeguard Ariane Neal, but she is confident of their steady success.

“It’s so nice to see these pools being used,” said Neal, who has also lifeguarded in Quaqtaq.

“I think over the years, since we’ve introduced pools to the north, we have better swimmers,” she said. “People are a lot more comfortable in the water.”

Besides ensuring poolside safety, Neal is an enthusiastic spokesperson for pools in the region. After lifeguarding at Quaqtaq’s newly-opened pool years ago, she is now one of two permanent lifeguards in Kuujjuaraapik.

The Huntingdon, QC, native develops programs and activities at the year-round facility for young schoolchildren to hesitant adults.

“Even the adults have shown a lot of improvement,” Neal said, claiming the Aquafit class she teaches has helped many pool-newbies become less fearful of the water.

Kuujjuaraapik’s pool is currently hosting a northern version of the Biggest Loser, where locals looking to drop a few pounds undergo a fitness regime – in this case, swimming laps.

“Our pool is popular,” said Pierre Roussel, a municipal administrator in Kuujjuaraapik. “It’s well-liked, especially by our younger residents.”

Like with many project ideas borrowed from the south, though, pool operators have had their share of problems.

“It’s not easy to operate a pool in the North,” Roussel admits.

For one, the pool requires about $250,000 annually to staff and maintain, although some grants pay for manpower, he said.

And despite a growing number of certified Inuit lifeguards in the region, most pools still rely on lifeguards from the south.

Kuujjuaraapik’s two non-local lifeguard staff have trained local Inuit swimmers; a handful have their Bronze Cross certification, which allows them to work as lifeguard assistants at $16 an hour.

For the fourth year running, a National Lifeguard training course was offered in Nunavik last summer, offering a program for full certification.

Kuujjuaraapik’s pool continues to explore ways to operate more efficiently; recently, the pool switched from chlorine to an underground salt water system.

“This way, we don’t have to transport chemical products to our community,” Roussel said. “It’s more efficient and it’s better for the skin.”

Structurally, Kuujjuaraapik’s pool has avoided some of the major problems that plague the region’s other pools; problems the Kativik Regional Government want to identify before the location and design of a new pool in Salluit is determined for this summer.

The KRG has also received a request from Aupaluk for funding to construct a new swimming pool.

While the KRG is not involved in building the region’s pools, they help to finance the projects and thus play a role in deciding what type of structure makes the most sense for the community.

“We need to sit down a figure out what works well,” said Frederic Gagne, form the KRG’s municipal public works, “to see if there’s a model that would work better for the villages.”

Choosing the right site is important in order to avoid the effects of permafrost, which are aggravated by a heavy and heated pool of water. Constructing a pool on bedrock is ideal, Gagne said.

Kangiqsujuaq and Kangirsuk used the same model to build their seasonal pools, housed under greenhouse-like domes. The kit was cheaper, Gagne said, but of poorer quality, which could explain why both villages have spent so much time repairing their facilities.

In Kangirsuk, for example, there has been underground movement at the site which has drained sand from under the pool as well as water from the actual pool.

After the pool closed last summer, municipal manager Etua Putulik said the municipality completely covered the drain pipe to avoid leakage and sand erosion underneath.

“It’s been a learning process,” Putulik said. “This year we were good and hopefully we’ll be open again this summer.

“It’s all about good maintenance.”

Fortunately, Kangirsuk’s pool woes haven’t kept residents from using the facility, Putulik said; besides the pool’s regular opening hours, the facility is often rented out two to three days a week during the summer months.

Up the Ungava coast, it’s sink or swim for Kangiqsujuaq, where the local pool has had similar problems. The KRG is now considering a request from the municipality for funding to repair that village’s pool.

Kangiqsujuaq’s pool opened seven years ago, but much of that time has been spent repairing structural problems, said mayor Mary Pilurtuut.

“We’ve had a lot of problems with the construction,” Pilurtuut said. “The foundation isn’t solid and it’s moved.”

On top of that, the municipality has had to replace the pool lining every year and there have been problems with the filtration system and the structure’s roof.

“We felt it wasn’t safe to open until that work is done,” she said. “But I know the kids and the young people want to continue to swim.”

Next door in Quaqtaq, the local co-op is stocked with goggles, bathing suits and floaties.

That speaks to the village’s mostly positive experience with its own pool, which has been open to the public since 2004.

Town manager Willie Jararuse says the pool remains popular with residents six years later, although the pool is currently awaiting a filtration part to come in the mail.

“It’s not difficult to keep the pool open, but we’ve had a few breakdowns,” he said. “When that happens, we have to wait for parts to arrive or technicians to come.”

Kuujjuaq was home to the region’s first pool which opened in the early 1990s.

A larger, concrete pool was constructed in 2007 at the Kuujjuaq Forum, a recreational centre operated by Kuujjuamiut Inc.