Sanikiluaq to build new treatment facility to address long-term water issues

After experiencing high sodium content in its drinking water for nearly a decade, the hamlet of Sanikiluaq plans to construct a new water treatment facility.

Deputy Mayor Emily Kattuk said the treatment plant will be a reverse-osmosis facility able to filter out the high amounts of salt from the community’s water supply.

Kattuk described the hamlet’s water source as yellow-ish and salty to whoever attempts use it without an osmosis unit, which are common in most homes in Sanikiluaq.

Funding for the facility includes $22.2 million from the federal government and $7.4 million from the Government of Nunavut. Those amounts were announced last week in Iqaluit by federal Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser and Nunavut Community and Government Services Minister David Joanasie.

High sodium levels have plagued Sanikiluaq’s water supply since the community discovered the issue in 2016.

Since then, each home has needed to be equipped with a reverse-osmosis purification unit. Over time, high salt consumption can cause adverse health effects on people with weakened immune systems, such as infants, elders or people with high blood pressure.

Kattuk said she did not yet know the timeline for construction of the facility, and said the hamlet will have more information when a new senior administrative officer joins the office next month.