Iqaluit's switch to scheduled water delivery still causing concerns

Despite recent clarifications from Iqaluit's department of Public Works, residents in Iqaluit who rely on trucked water still have some concerns about the city's new water delivery procedures.

Apex, Tundra Valley and parts of the Lower Base area are not on the city's utilidor system and receive water and sewage service by trucks.

Under the current system, each truck patrols a given neighbourhood and fills tanks when it is noticed that a tank fill light is off.

Last week, residents received a notice that said trucked water services employees would be using overflow instead of fill lights to determine water delivery. The new schedule is designed to be more efficient, and build in regular maintenance work on delivery trucks. 

Iqaluit's Public Works department quickly clarified the statement, saying the procedures used to fill tanks will not be changing. What will be changing is that the trucks will now follow a set delivery schedule.

It added that homeowners are still responsible for maintaining their fill pipe and water system and that this will not change the amount of water homes receive.

Overfill valves and pipes can freeze during the winter, causing truck drivers to sometimes fill tanks beyond capacity. Several homes have been flooded as a result. Some residents are concerned about how people with mobility issues can maintain their system.

"Your overflow is at the side of your house, and at 50 below in the dark, it's not very easy to check to make sure that the overflow is not frozen, especially for people with disabilities and older people," said Anne Crawford, a resident of Apex.

Crawford says it penalizes large families, who consume more water and already have a lower subsidy per capita.

City councillor Noah Papatsie says those families will just have to adapt.

"I'm on truck service myself," he said. "I have a big family. I've got eight people staying here. I don't call for water service and I don't run out of water."

He says Iqaluit's growing population leave the city with no other choice.

"Elders and people with disabilities, I'm sure they have children or family that can help. I myself ask the truck drivers to bang the ice off the pipes," Papatsie, who's blind, said.

Crawford says several residents have proposed an alternative plan for water service in the summer, based on a system currently operating in areas of Yellowknife that are on trucked water.

"They use gravity-fed water from a hill, with PVC piping, and it's a much cheaper solution for everyone, all summer long," she said.