Puvirnituq boil water advisory moves into its 2nd month

Puvirnituq faces “severe water distribution challenges” with the community under a boil water advisory for nearly a month due to a frozen water pipeline and shortage of water trucks.

Hossein Shafeghati, public works director for the Kativik Regional Government, pointed to several factors affecting the reliable delivery of drinking water to village residents in an April 14 news release.

Those factors are water infrastructure limitations, a limited capacity to switch delivery to water trucks, retaining experienced technical staff, and inadequate funding to install a water delivery system.

On Tuesday, KRG communication director Denis Abbott said the situation hasn’t changed since the news release was issued more than a week ago.

The situation began March 17 when a village employee reported that the pipeline that brings raw water to the water filtration plant had frozen, stopping the flow.

Shafeghati said the underground pipeline, which has a diameter of 15 centimetres, was built in 1991 and then retrofitted in 2005.

Efforts to thaw the pipeline failed.

“Further interventions are postponed until milder temperatures prevail,” said Shafeghati. “Staff are exploring alternate methods to establish temporary water flow during the coming spring and summer.”

The boil water advisory was put in place March 20, just before the start of the Puvirnituq Snow Festival on March 24. At the time, Mayor Lucy Qalingo said she did not know when the advisory might be lifted.

Currently, trucks are travelling directly to the raw water pumping station to load and distribute water and chlorination is done manually to disinfect it. The distance the trucks need to travel further delays water distribution. Meanwhile, KRG is waiting for parts for some of the trucks that need repair.