No showers, full sewage tanks: Nunavik residents say water system can't meet growing demand

Dr. Sarah Bergeron is used to improvising when the water runs dry in her com‐ munity in Puvirnituq, Que.

She washes her hair in a bowl and throws dirty water outside if the sewage is full.

A few weeks ago, she did‐ n't have running water for 10 days.

"You think about it in the morning when you wake up. You think about it at work. You think about it when you're going to bed at night," said Bergeron, a doctor at the local health centre who has lived in the community of 2,000 for five years.

"Everyone is trying to share their own tricks. But it's not a permanent solution."

Purvirnituq is just one of several communities in the autonomous Nunavik region of Quebec's far north that does not have pipe infra‐ structure and is struggling with water problems. In some communities, water ac‐ cess has even affected the health of residents - leading to difficulty controlling infec‐ tions.

Using bags instead of toilets

Dr. Amélie Desjardins Tessier says there are regula‐ tions in Quebec regarding the quality of water, but "nothing about access."

The medical adviser for the public health department in the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services has seen the issue of water become a "big bur‐ den" for households.

"[They] cannot take show‐ ers. They cannot wash their clothes or wash their dishes regularly," said Desjardins

Tessier.

"We've had moments where people had to use bags instead of toilets."

While she says the health centre in Puvirnituq has a di‐ rect water line, it relies on sewage pickup like the rest of the community.

And she says something needs to be done.

"The population of the

North is growing. We already have trouble servicing people with the equipment and the resources that we have right now and I do not see how it can get better," said Des‐ jardins Tessier.

"The thing is, we never know who will take the ball."

Schools closed for more than 15 days

All 18 schools run by the region's school board were closed a total of 15-and-ahalf days during the first eight months of the 2022-23 school year due to water, sewage or wastewater prob‐ lems, according to Kativik Ilis‐ arniliriniq, the regional school board.

In an emailed statement, it said the situation has not significantly improved this year.

The board's director gen‐ eral, Harriet Keleutak, says schools experience repercus‐ sions every time services are suspended for more than two hours. It's even had a negative effect on employee retention, she says.

$6K for 200 water bot‐ tles

In the community of Au‐ paluk, on the shores of Unga‐ va Bay, everyone working in Mayor David Angutinguak's office is exhausted trying to mitigate the water access problem in the village of 250.

Not only has one of the two trucks that deliver water to the community broken down, but Angutinguak says there's still a boil water advi‐ sory - and not enough water.

"We've been talking to our regional government that we have been lacking enough water to last the winter out of the reservoir tank," said Angutinguak.

"The town is growing. Peo‐ ple demand more water and we have regular complaints from all the residents."

Failing to properly boil wa‐ ter at home or just not using enough also results in people catching viruses and experi‐ encing rashes, he says.

"We have run out of water bottles, and those water bot‐ tles are so expensive," said

Angutinguak.

He says the community ordered 100 five-gallon bot‐ tles, and 100 more are on the way. He says without ship‐ ping costs, buying 200 bot‐ tles from the south will cost the community around $6,000.

Angutinguak says his team has been exhausting its options to get to the root of the problem

"We have been telling KRG (Kativik Regional Govern‐ ment) to get us a new water truck which we have been waiting for years now. And every year we've been told we're getting one this sum‐ mer, and that summer passes."

'Stuck in a cycle'

KRG was not available for an interview and did not pro‐ vide comment on the status of a new water truck in Au‐ paluk.

In an emailed statement, chairperson Hilda Snowball said KRG visits communities regularly to offer training and advice on equipment opera‐ tion, maintenance and repair.

She said KRG does not de‐ liver municipal services, and that each municipality provides water delivery and sewage collection.

"It is up to each munici‐ pality to decide how best to use the support that KRG provides," read the state‐ ment.

"We are reminded often that life in our northern vil‐ lages is, at times, harsh and difficult, and the ability of a local municipality to provide and maintain essential ser‐ vices is challenging."

Bergeron says the current situation has motivated some people to leave.

In Puvirnituq, she says there are not enough water trucks, challenges to repair them and weather conditions that can sometimes prevent the trucks from accessing the road.

"You're stuck in a cycle that is not improving," said Bergeron.

"A lot of people are really feeling sick and tired about that situation … I just wish that their voices keep on being heard."