Iqaluit water emergency enters second month
Water still deemed unsafe to drink, mayor announces special council meeting Nov. 15
An Iqaluit resident fills a water jug at a filling station in October. The city’s water emergency has entered its second month. (File photo by Mélanie Ritchot)
As Iqaluit’s water emergency entering its second month, Mayor Kenny Bell has called a special council meeting for Monday to “release a timeline of events and test results on the water situation to the public.”
The timeline will start with the first complaint the city received about the smell of fuel in the city’s tap water and explain the city’s plan moving forward, Bell told Nunatsiaq News.
Although city staff started hearing complaints about the smell on Oct. 2, it wasn’t until Oct. 12 that council declared a local state of emergency and Nunavut’s Health Department imposed a “do-not-consume” order on water from the municipal system.
Since then, Iqaluit’s 8,300 residents have been forced to buy bottled water, turn to city-run filling stations or draw their own water from the Sylvia Grinnell River.
Both the city and GN extended those state of emergency declarations on Tuesday.
At a Nov. 2 emergency council meeting, chief administrative officer Amy Elgersma said it had provided a report to Nunavut’s Health Department, certifying the city’s treated water meets Canadian guidelines for clean drinking water.
The Government of Nunavut has assigned a third party to review the city’s report. The third party will also do a site investigation of the water treatment plant, where it is now believed a historic diesel fuel leak infiltrated a water tank, as well as a risk assessment.
“Once complete, the [chief public health officer] will be able to determine if the do-not-consume order can be lifted or should remain in place until additional issues are addressed,” Elgersma told council.
Ultimately, it’s up to Nunavut’s Health Department to lift the do-not-consume order it imposed on Iqaluit’s municipal drinking water on Oct. 12.
The Canadian Armed Forces is scheduled to operate the water purification system it set up on the bank of the Sylvia Grinnell River until Nov. 17, but has a contingency plan to extend that operation for another two weeks.
By Emma Tranter The Canadian Press
Posted November 11, 2021
WATCH: Contaminated Iqaluit water tank isolated following initial inspection – Oct 22, 2021
A flowing river that turns to solid ice in October, freezing pipes and frosty arctic temperatures are all routine for Nunavummiut.
But those issues were a first for a water treatment system previously used by the Canadian Armed Forces in places, including Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and the Philippines.
Iqaluit has been under a state of emergency since Oct. 12 when fuel was found in the water at the city’s treatment plant. Residents have not been able to drink tap water since then.
The city has said that fuel from an old underground spill near the treatment plant may have leaked into the water system
READ MORE: Underground fuel spill likely responsible for Iqaluit water contamination: officials
Twenty-four members of the military arrived in Iqaluit on Oct. 23 at the request of the Nunavut government, but the military’s water treatment system only started running on Tuesday.
Sgt. Matthew Dimma said it’s the first time it’s been used so far north.
“From hoses freezing, to pumps freezing, to valves freezing, everything just is severely affected by the cold,” he said in an interview during a tour of the site Wednesday.
The system uses reverse osmosis to remove contaminants. It draws water from the Sylvia Grinnell River, just outside Iqaluit, and pumps it into treatment machines where it’s pressurized and sent through a series of progressively smaller filters.
2:48 Nunavut chief public health officer on Iqaluit water contamination – Oct 16, 2021
The water is then stored in heated tents in 11,000-litre bladders, which look like giant waterbeds, before it is pumped into the city’s water trucks.
“We’ve had to break the ice. We’ve had to pump water into these bladders, heat these bladders, then … process it into clean drinking water,” Dimma explained.
He said the water is safe to drink right away and doesn’t need to be boiled. On Tuesday, the military distributed 22,000 litres in Iqaluit.
Until recently, residents collected river water, which needed to be boiled, or picked up bottled water flown in by the Nunavut government and other organizations.
READ MORE: Canadian military arrives in Iqaluit to assist with clean drinking water crisis
Dimma said the system was originally designed to be used in temperatures above four degrees Celsius. Temperatures in Iqaluit are hovering around -15 C these days.
“As you can probably imagine, the water temperature is significantly colder than four degrees,” Dimma said as he pointed to the frozen river.
The team, he said, has had to break the ice on the river and switch out hoses because they keep freezing.
“We have to find the deepest spot to draw the water.”
Once it is up and running, the system can pump 500 litres of water per minute into a truck. It takes about half an hour to fill one truck.
Water stations have been set up at two spots in the city for residents to collect what they need.
2:30 Tap water contaminated in Nunavut’s capital, triggering state-of-emergency – Oct 13, 2021
Dimma said access to equipment has made the military’s operations in Iqaluit difficult. Most tools and replacement parts need to be flown up, which has caused delays.
He said there are lessons to be learned from the military using a system in Iqaluit that was not designed for cold weather.
“Hopefully we can further develop our Arctic capabilities in regards to (this) operation.”
The military is scheduled to stay in Iqaluit and run the system until Wednesday, but Dimma said members would stay longer if needed.
The city has said that its testing of Iqaluit’s water is now coming back clean. A report on the water quality has been submitted to Nunavut’s Department of Health.
The department has hired a third party to review the report and a final assessment will be made on whether the water is safe to drink again.
Dimma said access to equipment has made the military’s operations in Iqaluit difficult. Most tools and replacement parts need to be flown up, which has caused delays.
He said there are lessons to be learned from the military using a system in Iqaluit that was not designed for cold weather.
“Hopefully we can further develop our Arctic capabilities in regards to (this) operation.”
The military is scheduled to stay in Iqaluit and run the system until Wednesday, but Dimma said members would stay longer if needed.
The city has said that its testing of Iqaluit’s water is now coming back clean. A report on the water quality has been submitted to Nunavut’s Department of Health.
The department has hired a third party to review the report and a final assessment will be made on whether the water is safe to drink again.
Falling temperatures won’t deter Iqaluit water purification, military says
Operation scheduled until Nov. 17 but can be extended another 2 weeks
A member of the Canadian Armed Forces connects the hose delivering water from the military’s reverse osmosis water purification unit into a city truck, which will deliver the water to filling stations in the city. (Photo credit David Lochead)
By David Lochead
The Canadian military is confident it can continue to operate its water purification units in Iqaluit as temperatures remain below freezing, multiple members said in a tour of the operation set up along the Sylvia Grinnell River.
Since Tuesday, members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been pumping water from the river, purifying it using specialized portable equipment, then giving it to city workers to truck it to city-run filling stations. It’s part of the response to the water emergency that began in October, when diesel fuel was discovered in the city’s water supply.
The water purification exercise is known as Operation Lentus by the military. Maj. Scott Purcell, the department commander in Iqaluit, said the operation is scheduled until Nov. 17 and can be extended for two weeks. Purcell added the Government of Nunavut and federal government are discussing whether to move forward with an extension.
“If there remains a need of water, it is likely they will extend [the operation],” Maj. Susan Magill said of the territorial and federal government’s extension decision.
She added that she believes the military will be able to operate in colder conditions if its operations continue beyond Nov. 17.
Currently the water purification units are delivering around 44,000 litres a day, said Sgt. Matthew Dimma. In ideal circumstances, the water purification units can put out 5,250 litres an hour, but in Iqaluit the operation is challenged by working in a small space at the river and the amount of water the city is able to distribute, Dimma said.
To operate the water purification units, the military has broken through a layer of ice at the river to pump the water below. That water is pumped into large containers called bladders. It’s then run through the water purification unit and then transferred into separate bladders that hold the potable water.
The bladders for the unpurified water hold 11,000 litres, Dimma said. When a city truck arrives, the water from the bladders is pumped into the truck. Master Cpl. Adam Johnston said the purified water bladders hold around 13,000 litres while a city truck can hold 11,000 litres.
The operation’s big challenge is ensuring that the equipment and the water itself doesn’t freeze, Dimma said.
“Mainly the freezing of everything we have here has been a big issue,” Dimma said.
The reverse osmosis water purification unit in action. The purification unit operates under a heating tent to stay warm enough to function (Photo by David Lochead)
Heating tents are being used to ensure equipment stays warm enough to function.
This is the first time the military’s water purification units have operated this far north, Magill said in a previous interview with Nunatsiaq News.
To continue extracting water at the same rate in colder temperatures, the military will go further down the river, where the water is deeper, he said.
Potable water is available at AWG arena and the library filling station from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Operation scheduled until Nov. 17 but can be extended another 2 weeks
A member of the Canadian Armed Forces connects the hose delivering water from the military’s reverse osmosis water purification unit into a city truck, which will deliver the water to filling stations in the city. (Photo credit David Lochead)
By David Lochead
The Canadian military is confident it can continue to operate its water purification units in Iqaluit as temperatures remain below freezing, multiple members said in a tour of the operation set up along the Sylvia Grinnell River.
Since Tuesday, members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been pumping water from the river, purifying it using specialized portable equipment, then giving it to city workers to truck it to city-run filling stations. It’s part of the response to the water emergency that began in October, when diesel fuel was discovered in the city’s water supply.
The water purification exercise is known as Operation Lentus by the military. Maj. Scott Purcell, the department commander in Iqaluit, said the operation is scheduled until Nov. 17 and can be extended for two weeks. Purcell added the Government of Nunavut and federal government are discussing whether to move forward with an extension.
“If there remains a need of water, it is likely they will extend [the operation],” Maj. Susan Magill said of the territorial and federal government’s extension decision.
She added that she believes the military will be able to operate in colder conditions if its operations continue beyond Nov. 17.
Currently the water purification units are delivering around 44,000 litres a day, said Sgt. Matthew Dimma. In ideal circumstances, the water purification units can put out 5,250 litres an hour, but in Iqaluit the operation is challenged by working in a small space at the river and the amount of water the city is able to distribute, Dimma said.
To operate the water purification units, the military has broken through a layer of ice at the river to pump the water below. That water is pumped into large containers called bladders. It’s then run through the water purification unit and then transferred into separate bladders that hold the potable water.
The bladders for the unpurified water hold 11,000 litres, Dimma said. When a city truck arrives, the water from the bladders is pumped into the truck. Master Cpl. Adam Johnston said the purified water bladders hold around 13,000 litres while a city truck can hold 11,000 litres.
The operation’s big challenge is ensuring that the equipment and the water itself doesn’t freeze, Dimma said.
“Mainly the freezing of everything we have here has been a big issue,” Dimma said.
The reverse osmosis water purification unit in action. The purification unit operates under a heating tent to stay warm enough to function (Photo by David Lochead)
Heating tents are being used to ensure equipment stays warm enough to function.
This is the first time the military’s water purification units have operated this far north, Magill said in a previous interview with Nunatsiaq News.
To continue extracting water at the same rate in colder temperatures, the military will go further down the river, where the water is deeper, he said.
Potable water is available at AWG arena and the library filling station from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Iqaluit’s new hydrocarbon monitoring system ‘unusual’ but ‘proactive,’ expert says
City installed real-time system in response to ongoing water emergency in Iqaluit
In response to the ongoing water emergency in Iqaluit, the s::can water monitoring system was brought in to help detect hydrocarbons in the city’s water supply in October. The city is currently renting the system. (Photo by Mélanie Ritchot)
By Madalyn Howitt
HEALTH NOV 10, 2021 –
The City of Iqaluit has installed an online system made by engineers in Austria to monitor for hydrocarbons in its treated water.
It’s a move heralded by one expert, although questions remain about who at the city is making sure the new technology is properly maintained and that the massive amounts of data it spits out is fully interpreted.
People in Iqaluit haven’t been able to drink their tap water for almost a month, after fuel was found to be contaminating a holding tank in the city’s water treatment plant.
Along with an investigation and cleanup process, the city has rented a monitoring system manufactured by a company called s::can, Geoffrey Byrne, a spokesperson for the city, confirmed. It was installed Oct. 22.
The system uses light to detect contaminants, says Benoit Barbeau, a professor in the civil mining and geological engineering department at Polytechnique Montréal.
Barbeau specializes in drinking water treatment and is familiar with the s::can system.
“If you have a light going across water, black light will interact with the compounds which are in the water and a portion of the light will be absorbed. It will not go through … the water sample,” he said. “Therefore, the more you absorb, the more there’s [a] presence of different compounds.”
Depending on what wavelength of light is being absorbed, the system can correlate it to the presence of different types of contaminants, he said.
“For example, if you have a contamination with gasoline, the light interference will be different than if it’s diesel [or] if it’s wastewater coming through.… So we can [see] we have a signal that’s abnormal,” he said.
When it comes to diesel, the contaminant suspected to have infiltrated Iqaluit’s water treatment plant last month, that signal would come through well below the threshold set by the federal government’s Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.
That threshold for diesel, which is is classified as an F2 hydrocarbon, is 390 mg/l.
“We have tested eight companies selling oil sensors in water (including s::can),” said Barbeau. “Diesel was detectable at 0.025-0.05 mg/l … so in short, yes, 390 mg/l would be detected for sure.”
Barbeau said it’s a “big deal” that technology like the one used by the s::can system can analyze water in real time without samples needing to be sent to a lab.
In October, the City of Iqaluit installed the s::can drinking water “micro::station”, which is designed for online monitoring of water quality. It uses light to detect potential contaminants like hydrocarbons in water supplies. (Photo courtesy of s::can GmbH)
While he said it’s unusual for a city to use a real-time monitoring system for its water supply, due in large part to the cost of the system and it being a relatively new product, he thinks the City of Iqaluit made a good choice in bringing it in.
“They were proactive,” he said. “It’s the future of monitoring water treatment.”
However, the city must properly maintain the system and figure out a way to make the most of its technology.
“When you put that system in place, you need someone to take care of it. It’s like a car — you need to put gasoline in it, you need to change a tire, so there’s a cost of operation,” Barbeau said.
“Another challenge is that they generate a lot of data.”
The s::can system will generate not only one measurement, but an entire “absorbance profile” Barbeau explained, a signal measured in real time.
“Every second you have information, so after a year of operation, that’s a lot of information. We need to develop artificial intelligence in order to [monitor] all that information that we’re generating, because it’s overwhelming,” he said.
City staff did not respond to questions from Nunatsiaq News about the cost of renting the system, how long it plans to rent it or who is responsible for maintaining it and interpreting the data it generates.
City council’s Nov. 5 agenda package, however, lists a $29,000 line item described as an s::can rental. It is unclear if this amount includes all costs associated with the system, such as installation, shipping or tutorial fees.
City of Iqaluit chief administrative officer Amy Elgersma told city council on Nov. 2 that the plan is to publish results from the real-time monitoring system on the city’s website on a weekly basis.
She also told council that day that the city had submitted a report to Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, to certify the city’s water quality now meets Canadian health standards. Patterson will be responsible for deciding whether to lift the order to not consume Iqaluit’s drinking water.
It’s not clear whether the s::can hydrocarbon monitoring data is included in the report.
On Nov. 6, the Department of Health announced it hired a third party to review the report. Health officials expect that review to be complete late this week.
City installed real-time system in response to ongoing water emergency in Iqaluit
In response to the ongoing water emergency in Iqaluit, the s::can water monitoring system was brought in to help detect hydrocarbons in the city’s water supply in October. The city is currently renting the system. (Photo by Mélanie Ritchot)
By Madalyn Howitt
HEALTH NOV 10, 2021 –
The City of Iqaluit has installed an online system made by engineers in Austria to monitor for hydrocarbons in its treated water.
It’s a move heralded by one expert, although questions remain about who at the city is making sure the new technology is properly maintained and that the massive amounts of data it spits out is fully interpreted.
People in Iqaluit haven’t been able to drink their tap water for almost a month, after fuel was found to be contaminating a holding tank in the city’s water treatment plant.
Along with an investigation and cleanup process, the city has rented a monitoring system manufactured by a company called s::can, Geoffrey Byrne, a spokesperson for the city, confirmed. It was installed Oct. 22.
The system uses light to detect contaminants, says Benoit Barbeau, a professor in the civil mining and geological engineering department at Polytechnique Montréal.
Barbeau specializes in drinking water treatment and is familiar with the s::can system.
“If you have a light going across water, black light will interact with the compounds which are in the water and a portion of the light will be absorbed. It will not go through … the water sample,” he said. “Therefore, the more you absorb, the more there’s [a] presence of different compounds.”
Depending on what wavelength of light is being absorbed, the system can correlate it to the presence of different types of contaminants, he said.
“For example, if you have a contamination with gasoline, the light interference will be different than if it’s diesel [or] if it’s wastewater coming through.… So we can [see] we have a signal that’s abnormal,” he said.
When it comes to diesel, the contaminant suspected to have infiltrated Iqaluit’s water treatment plant last month, that signal would come through well below the threshold set by the federal government’s Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.
That threshold for diesel, which is is classified as an F2 hydrocarbon, is 390 mg/l.
“We have tested eight companies selling oil sensors in water (including s::can),” said Barbeau. “Diesel was detectable at 0.025-0.05 mg/l … so in short, yes, 390 mg/l would be detected for sure.”
Barbeau said it’s a “big deal” that technology like the one used by the s::can system can analyze water in real time without samples needing to be sent to a lab.
In October, the City of Iqaluit installed the s::can drinking water “micro::station”, which is designed for online monitoring of water quality. It uses light to detect potential contaminants like hydrocarbons in water supplies. (Photo courtesy of s::can GmbH)
While he said it’s unusual for a city to use a real-time monitoring system for its water supply, due in large part to the cost of the system and it being a relatively new product, he thinks the City of Iqaluit made a good choice in bringing it in.
“They were proactive,” he said. “It’s the future of monitoring water treatment.”
However, the city must properly maintain the system and figure out a way to make the most of its technology.
“When you put that system in place, you need someone to take care of it. It’s like a car — you need to put gasoline in it, you need to change a tire, so there’s a cost of operation,” Barbeau said.
“Another challenge is that they generate a lot of data.”
The s::can system will generate not only one measurement, but an entire “absorbance profile” Barbeau explained, a signal measured in real time.
“Every second you have information, so after a year of operation, that’s a lot of information. We need to develop artificial intelligence in order to [monitor] all that information that we’re generating, because it’s overwhelming,” he said.
City staff did not respond to questions from Nunatsiaq News about the cost of renting the system, how long it plans to rent it or who is responsible for maintaining it and interpreting the data it generates.
City council’s Nov. 5 agenda package, however, lists a $29,000 line item described as an s::can rental. It is unclear if this amount includes all costs associated with the system, such as installation, shipping or tutorial fees.
City of Iqaluit chief administrative officer Amy Elgersma told city council on Nov. 2 that the plan is to publish results from the real-time monitoring system on the city’s website on a weekly basis.
She also told council that day that the city had submitted a report to Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, to certify the city’s water quality now meets Canadian health standards. Patterson will be responsible for deciding whether to lift the order to not consume Iqaluit’s drinking water.
It’s not clear whether the s::can hydrocarbon monitoring data is included in the report.
On Nov. 6, the Department of Health announced it hired a third party to review the report. Health officials expect that review to be complete late this week.
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