Boil water order lifted in Iqaluit
City’s water treatment plant was offline for 18 months after fuel contamination
Iqaluit’s boil water advisory has been lifted. The plant was offline for approximately 18 months due to fuel contamination. (Photo by David Venn)
The City of Iqaluit has lifted the precautionary boil-water order put in place last month so officials could test water from its treatment plant.
The city announced May 12 that Dr. Sean Wachtel, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, had lifted the advisory. It had been in place since April 25, when the water treatment plant returned to service.
Fuel was found in Iqaluit’s treated water supply from two separate sources in October 2021 and January 2022.
The city provided treated water through a bypass system, installed in November 2021, while experts investigated the sources of the contamination and came up with a remediation plan.
That remediation plan was completed last month.
The plant needed two rounds of testing before Wachtel lifted the boil water advisory. Hydrocarbons and bacteria were included in the testing, and those tests came back negative.
The water smells and taste’s worse then the pool. #boilingwaterforever
Ya I don’t think there’s an intelligent person who voluntarily would drink any municipal water or accept any promises at this point given the fiasco last year. Too sad that many can’t afford bottled.
I’m glad we’ve finally been able to move.
No more worrying about whether the place I live can provide me with basic, potable drinking water. I have a well and it’s no one’s responsibility but my own.