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.
The Northern Territories Federation of Labour launched a campaign last week in Iqaluit and Yellowknife drawing attention to the health care crisis, characterized in the North by ongoing staffing shortages and a growing reliance on temporary contract workers. Sara-Jayne Dempster, president of the Northern Territories Federation of Labour, says that nursing students who graduate here are running into barriers finding jobs, which is contributing to the crisis in the North.
“We have assisted close to 500 families for Christmas this year and that includes 300 children for toys as well,” said Tony Brushett, executive director of the Salvation Army. It was just last week that Brushett said the Salvation Army Christmas kettle food drive was getting closer to their goal and today it only got better.
In an announcement issued today, GNWT’s Chief Environmental Health Officer Dr. Chirag Rohit reported that laboratory-based testing from the Hamlet of Fort Liard, reviewed by the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer, shows that the total THM levels in treated drinking water are above Health Canada’s guidelines.
The Dettah Ice Road was opened this morning to vehicles weighing a maximum of 5,000 kg. This is the second year in a row the ice road was opened in late December, in comparison to the 2022 to 2023 season. In contrast, looking eastward in Nunavut, conditions are warmer than usual with sea ice not fully formed as yet and talk of seal hunt traditions potentially being postponed as a result.
A 25-year-old is facing charges following multiple alleged break-ins at Mildred Hall. Yellowknife police reported that they are investigating this incident along with “several” area break and enters in the downtown area. Officers reported that the suspect was facing previous charges including for an alleged break in at the same school earlier this month.
