Water pipeline repair to begin in Puvirnituq, KRG councillors told
State of emergency was declared earlier this year in village of about 2,000 residents
Permanent repairs will begin in the coming weeks after a 2.9-kilometre temporary water pipeline was installed to sustain Puvirnituq earlier this year. (File Photo)
Repair work on the main water pipeline in Puvirnituq is expected to start in the coming weeks after a state of emergency was declared in the community this summer.
Designs for the repair have been finalized, the parts are delivered and work is expected to be completed this month, Hossein Shafeghati, public works director for the Kativik Regional Government, told the regional council Thursday.
But some additional work will continue after that. A section of the heat-tracing cable that’s used to keep the pipeline from freezing needs to be replaced. The manufacturer in England is preparing to make the new cable and ship it to Puvirnituq between October and November, Shafeghati said.
“We will be able to replace [the cable] next summer, but that will not stop the pipeline from flowing,” he said of the delay in replacing the cable.
On March 18, the village’s main water pipe froze and broke.
Untreated water had to be trucked five kilometres from the river into the village. But weather conditions and five out-of-service trucks needing repair hindered that effort.
A 10-day state of emergency in the village of about 2,000 residents was declared May 27, then extended for another 10 days until a temporary 2.9-kilometre pipeline was installed to connect the water supply at the river to the water filtration plant.
During the state of emergency, the Quebec government airlifted 145,000 litres of bottled water to Puvirnituq and Canadian Rangers were deployed to help during the crisis.
KRG’s public works department and Puvirnituq staff are now participating in a review launched by the Quebec government to determine the cause of the water issues and come up with a plan to prevent another similar crisis, Shafeghati said.
Review findings are expected to be released in the fall.
State of emergency started in spring not. We still had snow. And now that the temperature is starting to freeze soon almost below 0 at night they’re finally gonna try and start the repair, what were they waiting for all summer? For winter to come. Hopefully the temporary pipe line can stand cold weather, sick of not having running water regularly as if we’re living in a country that has no water available. C’mon! If it’s not the water then it’s the sewage. Yaiiikk
“section of the heat-tracing cable that’s used to keep the pipeline from freezing needs to be replaced. The manufacturer in England is preparing to make the new cable and ship it to Puvirnituq between October and November, Shafeghati said.
“We will be able to replace [the cable] next summer, but that will not stop the pipeline from flowing,” he said of the delay in replacing the cable.” HA HUH? R u kidding me? So there’s still a chance that this winter the pipe freezes and burst again since there’s a section that needs to be replaced. 🤔 Hopefully that doesn’t happen, I guess if we all have our fingers crossed right KRG.
We heard Makivvik candidate during election campaign that he would get all the communities running water.
Give us an update on that, A Moorhouse!