Neighbourhood endures a week without water

KIRSTEN MURPHY

Mary-Lou Sutton-Fennell started to make coffee on Jan. 26, stopped when her kitchen tap ran dry. A few houses down, Cory Chegwyn was in the bathroom — staring into a waterless shower head.

Last month’s -40 C cold snap froze the main water pipe supplying 15 units at Brown Row housing, leaving 45 people without water for a week.

Water was flowing through taps by Feb. 5, after a subsidiary feed was hooked up. But the main pipe remains frozen.

“I would not wish this type of misery on anyone,” said Sutton-Fennell. The lack of water was particularly troublesome, she said, because she was battling the flu.

“It’s awful when you have absolutely no water. To make matters worse, my sewer froze.”

After four days at a friend’s house, she and her three children returned home this week to piles of laundry, stacks of dishes and sticky floors.

The health department intervenes when residential water shortages pose a health risk — as it did during the city’s 91-day strike last spring. However, Bruce Trotter, environmental health officer with the GN, said the Brown Row situation did not warrant action by his department.

“Of course there are some health risks,” he said, “but it’s one of those times when you wake up and your water pipes are frozen. What do you do? You have to make arrangements. It’s one of the facts of life up here.”

Brown Row receives water from a pipe originating at Inuksuk High School. A five-person board — known as the Iqaluit Condominium Corporation — oversees maintenance of the 15 units. Most Iqaluit and Apex homes receive water by utilidor or truck service.

Inuksuk’s pipes froze on Jan. 26, not long before the problem hit Brown Row. The school has never been without water, a school administrator said.

Baffin Building Supplies has been hired to thaw and repair the pipe. But the size and location of the blockage — below the school — has delayed repairs. Insurance will likely cover the repair costs.

Chegwyn and his family stocked up on 32-litre jugs of spring water, accepted friends’ offers to do their laundry, took full advantage of their Frobisher Bay Racquet Club membership and sent their son to swimming lessons with a full bottle of shampoo.

Despite the temporary inconvenience, Chegwyn jokes about the return to normalcy.

“When we first got the water back we were fascinated with flushing the toilet watching water run from the tap,” he said.