Rankin Inlet’s tap water is cloudy, again

Nunavut health officials have issued a boil water advisory for residents of Rankin Inlet.

The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Health issued the alert on Thursday, May 23, calling it a “precautionary measure” due to high turbidity or cloudiness in the community’s drinking water.

That means residents should boil any water they plan to consume for a full minute, including water used to cook, wash fruits and vegetables, or to brush teeth, the department said in a news release.

The advisory might sound familiar: the GN has issued similar advisories for the Kivalliq community over the spring and summer months in recent years.

Rankin Inlet’s water infrastructure is now over 40 years old and, according to a recent report prepared by the GN, poses a number of health and safety risks.

Around this time in 2018, residents of the community of about 3,000 reported brown and yellow water flowing from their taps.

GN officials said the water was in fact safe to drink, but could be discoloured from mud or sand in the community’s water source, Lake Nipissar.

Water flows from there to a treatment centre on Williamson Lake, before it’s distributed throughout the community via a utilidor system.

But a 2017 report said the system is now over 40 years old and no longer meets code and standards.

The government commissioned a feasibility study to determine what needs to be replaced or upgraded. That report was completed in 2018, though the GN has yet to make its findings public.

Some work appears to be underway on that infrastructure this year; the government recently posted requests for proposals to replace fuel tanks in both the Nipissar Lake and Williamson Lake pump houses.