City looks for a few “healthy” homes in Apex

DENISE RIDEOUT

City officials are eager to get Apex residents to participate in a new water-recycling program that will help conserve Iqaluit’s water supply and cut down on municipal costs.

City council will hold a public meeting in Apex on Feb. 21 to try to get residents pumped about the new program.

The innovative project will recycle waste water and pump it back into household water tanks. The recycled water can then be used to flush toilets and do laundry. Residents will still get a fresh supply of water for drinking and bathing.

“This project is on the fast track,” said Matthew Hough, director of engineering for the city of Iqaluit.

The city’s water treatment plant is working beyond its capacity, Hough said, and councillors have expressed concern that Iqaluit’s rapidly growing population is taxing the water supply.

Iqaluit city council first announced its plans for the water-recycling system, known as the Healthy House System, in May. City officials are pushing to get the homes equipped with special pipes and valves and get the water pumping before the end of the year. It’s one of the priorities in the city’s 2002 capital budget.

According to the city’s research on the project, the benefits are enormous.

If 11 households in Apex volunteer to be “healthy homes”, the city can cut the amount of water these homes use by half — from 1,825,700 litres a year to 912,850 litres a year.

The water-recycling program would also reduce the number of times water trucks have to fill household water tanks. With the new system, trucks will have to make just one water delivery for all 11 homes, rather than 11 individual deliveries.

Fewer deliveries will save the city about $34,000 a year in trucked water services. Residents who participate in the program will also receive smaller water bills, Hough said.

Hough said the major task now is getting 11 households to volunteer for the project. The homes have to be relatively close to one another so they can all be connected by pipes to a main pumping station.

“We’ve already had a lot of interest,” Hough said. “I think the tough part will be finding the best location in Apex for this.

The core funding for the project comes from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, under their Green Funds. The organization is giving Iqaluit a $77,500 grant and a loan of equal value. Hough estimates it will cost $325, 000 to install the system.

A smaller version of the system is already running in one Iqaluit home. Jens Steenberg has been using the Healthy House System in his bed-and-breakfast, Accommodations By the Sea, for the past two years.