New pipeline brings ‘safe, clean drinking water’ to Ivujivik

A new drinking-water pipeline in Ivujivik is operational now, Kativik Regional Government announced this week.

Construction of the $6.3-million pipeline in the Nunavik community of about 400 residents has been completed, and water testing was carried out recently by KRG’s municipal public works department, KRG spokesperson Denis Abbott said in a statement.

“Safe, clean drinking water is now flowing,” he said.

Last year, Mayor Adamie Kalingo told Nunatsiaq News that due to disrepair the community had stopped using its old pipeline system which relied on a pump at a reservoir to bring water to a filtration system via a long pipe.

“The water truck has to go to the water point now,” Kalingo said at that time.

In January 2022, there was a breakdown of Ivujivik’s water truck delivery system following vandalism on the heated garage where the municipality stored its water truck.

Damage from the vandalism caused the water truck to freeze and break down, leading to lengthy delivery delays for residents, issues with sewage and health concerns.

Last year, one resident told Nunatsiaq News the lack of running water made it impossible for some people to shower or flush their toilets.

Work on the pipeline began in early fall and was completed last month.

It has been a lengthy process. Work was initially scheduled for completion in 2022, however, COVID-19 pandemic challenges and supply chain disruptions caused delays, Abbott said.

“Several new upgrades were made in the design and construction of the new pipeline to improve reliability and meet regulatory requirements,” he said.

In an interview this week, Kalingo said the new pipeline is “important” for the community, and is much closer to the village than the nearby river that residents collect water from even in difficult and sometimes dangerous winter weather conditions.

However, Kalingo stressed the new pipeline won’t solve all of the community’s issues when it comes to consistent water access.

He said he wants the community to have more drivers qualified to operate the water truck so residents aren’t left in the lurch when no one is available to drive it.

“In that way, it is hard to accommodate the demands of the people. For example, the school and nursing station, they threaten to close down if there is no sewage service, or if there is no water service,” Kalingo said.

“It becomes a problem that accumulates.”

Regular boil-water advisories are common for Ivujivik, and Kalingo noted there have been challenges getting chlorine to treat the water system.

However, “the pipeline system is beginning to work” to alleviate some of those issues, he said.

“I hope it will continue to work. From all observations, things are looking a lot better than last year.”