Apex to get water-recycling system

DENISE RIDEOUT

IQALUIT — Some Apex residents may be getting their very own recycling program: one that would take their waste water and pump it back into their tanks to be used again.

The recycled water would then be used to flush toilets and do laundry. Residents would still get a fresh supply of water for drinking and bathing.

The water system is an innovative environmental project the city is banking on to conserve Iqaluit’s water supply.

It’s also part of Iqaluit’s plan to become an environmentally conscious city.

Recycling residents’ waste water is expected to reduce water consumption and cut down the number of water deliveries to households.

“It’s a very exciting ‘greening-of-Iqaluit’ project, ” said Rick Butler, the city’s administrative officer.

The city council announced the project, called the Healthy Home System, at this week’s council meeting.

The council is now looking for 11 households in Apex to volunteer to be “healthy homes.”

With the water being recycled, the city estimates it would cut in half the amount of water these 11 households use — from 1,825,700 litres a year to 912,850 litres.

Conserving water is critical for the city. The council has expressed concern that Iqaluit’s rapidly growing population is taxing the water supply in Lake Geraldine.

“It’s a very exciting ‘greening-of-Iqaluit’ project.”

— Rick Butler, Iqaluit

administrative officer

“The more water we can save, the less money we’ll have to spend on Lake Geraldine,” said councillor Keith Irving.

The city’s goal is to also cut down on the number of times the water trucks have to fill residents’ tanks.

With this new system, there would be one delivery for all 11 houses, rather than 11 individual deliveries.

The plan is that one delivery would provide the households with a five-day supply of water — radically reducing the deliveries from 4,015 to 91 per year.

Fewer water deliveries, in turn, will save the city about $34,000 a year.

“The payoff will be tremendous if it works,” councillor Mathew Spence said.

Iqaluit’s water-recycling plan is one of only four projects across Canada that received the green light to go ahead.

The core of the funding comes from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The organization is giving Iqaluit a $77,500 grant, as well as a loan for $77,500 that has to be paid back in 10 years.

Construction of the pipelines and other parts of the water system may begin in Apex in late summer. But all that depends on when the building materials arrive and how soon Apex residents volunteer to be part of the project.

Right now, the water system is only slated for Apex, but the city would like to see it eventually being used throughout Iqaluit.

A small version of the system is already in place in one Iqaluit dwelling. Jens Steenberg’s bed-and-breakfast, called Accommodations By the Sea, has employed the Healthy House system for last years two years.

“This is definitely a bold step. And I’d like to see us take more bold steps like this,” councillor Kirt Ejesiak said.