Yellowknife’s new water treatment plant opened its doors to visitors for the first time on Monday.
The facility cost a fraction over $30 million to build and began operations this summer, just in time to end a weeks-long boil-water advisory across the city.
Such advisories should be a thing of the past as the new facility boasts an advanced water filtration system.
Moose FM took this photo tour with city staff.
Superintendent Scott Gillard and director of public works Chris Greencorn gave Moose FM a tour.The facility can handle 20 million litres of water per day, and could support more than 30,000 people.At the heart of the facility are new water filters, or membranes, which do a much better job of cleaning the city’s water than was previously the case.Scott Gillard holds up an example of the new water filtration system.Water passes through this filter, which helps to remove particles as tiny as one micron (one thousandth of a millimetre).Gillard believes the new filtration system makes boil-water advisories a thing of the past.These tanks contain sodium hypochlorite. This chemical replaces chlorine in the water cleaning process and is said to be a safer solution.The facility employs three staff and costs around $1.3 million to run each year. Testing of the water supply can be performed on-site.This instrument tests for turbidity, or how much silt and debris is in the water. (When Moose FM toured the facility, turbidity was at around 0.012 NTU. For context, the 2003 boil-water advisory in Yellowknife saw turbidity approach 50 NTU.)These screens are part of the small control centre in one corner of the building, from which operators can inspect the entire system.The next question for Yellowknife is where its water comes from. This is the view from the facility, looking out over Yellowknife Bay. The city could decide to draw water directly from the bay when its old pipe to Yellowknife River comes up for replacement, in the near future.If the city decides to pump water from Yellowknife Bay, contamination from the toxic remnants of nearby Giant Mine will be a concern. This bland corridor could form part of a new arsenic treatment installation if the city decides to go ahead with it.
Minister Rebecca Alty was a part of the Canadian delegation at the 25th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues which began this past Monday.
United Way leaders including local NWT representatives have made their way to the east coast for a biennial national conference bringing together collective efforts to support communities facing housing, shelter and mental health crises. "There’s significant financial stress facing people in Canada, especially those low-income individuals and families and that stress is affected as well mental health and well-being, and so all that is driving a rising need for strong, community-based support"
The City of Yellowknife has released their 2026-2036 Climate Action Plan, a 10-year strategy for strengthening the community's resilience against climate change.
AVENS, a Community for Seniors is being recognized by the federal government as a Social Innovator. The Yellowknife based organization was honoured in a special mention as part of the national 2025 Volunteer Awards.
With the impacts of industry and climate change felt across the country and globally, Northern leaders and stakeholders are facing the pressures of development and industry while weighing in on how to balance the rich natural resources of the territories.
