Community water quality data across Nunavut: an introduction to

available data for community water supplies

James Elliott1, Meredith G. Clayden2, Kayla Clouter3, Sarah Collins3, Tommy Tremblay4
and Michele LeBlanc-Havard2
1
Department of Environment, Government of Nunavut, Iqaluit, Nunavut, [email protected]
2
Department of Environment, Government of Nunavut, Iqaluit, Nunavut
3
Department of Community and Government Services, Government of Nunavut, Iqaluit, Nunavut
4
Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office, Iqaluit, Nunavut

Elliott, J., Clayden, M.G., Clouter, K., Collins, S., Tremblay, T. and LeBlanc-Havard, M. 2022: Community water quality data across
Nunavut: an introduction to available data for community water supplies; in Summary of Activities 2021, Canada-Nunavut Geoscience
Office, p. 57–68.

Abstract
There are several existing stressors for managing Arctic drinking water systems including water availability, staffing chal-
lenges and logistical issues. Managing these systems will likely become more difficult due to impacts of climate change,
such as changes in the timing and quantity of precipitation, chemical release from thawing permafrost and altered runoff re-
gime. The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Community and Government Services collects water quality data from
drinking water sources one to four times a year in keeping with applicable regulations. Work is being done to consolidate
this data, which will inform the design of broader water quality monitoring, as the Government of Nunavut prepares for ex-
panded water management responsibilities.

A more regular schedule of data collection would help establish temporal and seasonal trends in water quality. Future work
could also better characterize permafrost conditions and assess links between surficial geology and water quality. For exam-
ple, in 2016, the concentration of salts increased in Sanikiluaq’s drinking water source, reaching levels above the chloride
aesthetic objective. The authors hypothesize that frozen salty water trapped in marine sediments was released from thawing
permafrost due to an increase in the annual average air temperature. Developing longer term baseline data on water quality
and other geotechnical characteristics of community source watersheds can help identify changes as they happen and miti-
gate potential risks associated with climate change.

Introduction communities also have secondary treatments such as filtra-

tion and/or ultraviolet (UV) disinfection (Table 1).
Providing an adequate supply of drinking water in remote
northern communities has always been challenging Many communities are small in population and may not
(Medeiros et al., 2017). Arctic water supplies have been have access to specialized tradespeople or equipment with-
identified as vulnerable to the effects of climate and efforts in the community, which can affect operation and mainte-
have been made to quantify this (Alessa et al., 2008; Harper nance of drinking water infrastructure and prolong repairs
et al., 2020). With the increased awareness of water secu- of vital parts of the drinking water system (Figure 1). Staff-
rity issues in the Arctic (Medeiros et al., 2017), baseline ing and planning of operations can also be a challenge for
data are required for each community’s primary and alter- communities, and therefore ongoing access to training on
native water sources so that changes in quality and quantity operating water system infrastructure is required.
can be detected and adaptively managed.
Environmental factors that affect drinking
In Nunavut, drinking water is supplied entirely by surface source water quality and quantity
water. The majority of drinking water in the territory comes
from lakes, however, some communities draw their water Climate change will present additional challenges to pro-
from creeks, rivers or glacial meltwater. While all commu- viding drinking water in Nunavut. Climate-driven hydro-
nities use chlorine disinfection to treat their water, some logical regime changes are directly affecting the water

This publication is available, free of charge, as colour digital files in Adobe Acrobat® PDF format from the Canada-Nunavut Geoscience
Office website: https://cngo.ca/summary-of-activities/2021/. Il est aussi disponible en français sur https://cngo.ca/fr/.

Summary of Activities 2021 57

 Table 1: Water source and water treatment technology used at selected Nunavut communities, with the population in 2016 (Sta-
tistics Canada, 2019). Abbreviation: UV, ultraviolet.

Figure 1: Population of communities in Nunavut (shown with proportional circles). Population

data from the 2016 census (Statistics Canada, 2019).

58 Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office

balance of watersheds across the circumpolar Arctic Availability of monitoring data
(Whitehead et al., 2009; Holmes et al., 2013; Beel et al.,
Capacity constraints at all levels of government in
2021). Nunavut’s community water supplies rely on the
Nunavut, combined with the territory’s large landmass, re-
spring freshet to recharge reservoirs, the annual timing of
mote communities and limited infrastructure, make water
which is likely occurring earlier in the year given evidence quality sampling and data collection challenging. There-
from other circumpolar watersheds (Prowse et al., 2006). fore, relatively limited data are available to help understand
Evaporation rates, along with the magnitude and timing of the current state of water quality and quantity in community
precipitation events, and the relative balance of snow and drinking source watersheds, and how conditions may be
rain that make up the annual water balance, also determine changing with broader environmental and climate changes.
the degree of recharge and adequacy of the annual supply in The majority of water quality data in Nunavut is collected
community reservoirs (Holmes et al., 2013; Zhang et al., by researchers involved with independent projects and, as
2021). In continuous permafrost zones, permafrost creates such, there is little spatial and temporal consistency in
an impermeable layer above which surface water systems available datasets (Liang and Aherne, 2020). Some re-
are perched and generally isolated from deeper groundwa- search has been done on the water quality of community
ter, except in taliks that extend to the base of the permafrost drinking water supply (Forte et al., 2017; Hutchinson et al.,
layer (LeBlanc et al., 2021). In a warming climate, it is un- 2018), however, the majority of water quality data comes
certain whether lake shorelines will shrink or expand in re- from remote sample sites not associated with drinking wa-
gions underlain with continuous permafrost. Individual ter supplies. The Government of Canada conducts water
lake response will depend on many factors such as the quality monitoring at 10 sites in Nunavut through Environ-
depth of the lake, the depositional environment (particu- ment and Climate Change Canada’s National Long-Term
larly the type of sediment deposited), the ground ice con- Water Quality Monitoring Data program. However, the
tent and local permafrost thaw rates, the lake’s hydrology sites are distant from inhabited communities and therefore
do not provide direct information about community source
and connectivity, and the lake-ice regimes (LeBlanc et al.,
water.
2020). Sudden lake drainage, attributed to permafrost thaw,
has been documented in Siberia and the western Arctic of Adequate data are required for decision makers to adap-
North America (Smith et al., 2005; Swanson, 2018). Some tively manage drinking water supplies in the face of climate
studies suggest this drainage could decrease the number of change. The intent of this paper is to provide a preliminary
lakes and their total surface area over the long term (Smith overview of the availability of water quality data for com-
et al., 2005; Ge et al., 2011). At the time of writing, the au- munity drinking water supplies in Nunavut, mostly ex-
thors were not aware of any sudden lake or pond drainage in tracted from Government of Nunavut (GN) archived data.
Nunavut that can be attributed to permafrost degradation, In addition, a case study from the community of Sanikiluaq,
however, this may occur under higher greenhouse gas in south-central Nunavut, is used to illustrate how climate
emission scenarios (Nitze et al., 2020). Climate change is change appears to have led to relatively sudden changes in
also driving direct changes to surface water quality through water quality.
increased chemical reaction rates in warming waters, as
well as indirectly through changes to thermal stratification,
Water quality data collection in community
source water
lake mixing (Mueller et al., 2009) and many other intercon-
nected biogeochemical processes (Rouse et al., 1997; Wil- Communities in Nunavut are remote and are only accessi-
liamson et al., 2009; Roberts et al., 2017; Benateau et al., ble by plane for most of the year, with the exception of a
2019). For example, permafrost thaw and slumping in- short period in the summer when they can be reached by
crease the transport of organic matter and associated metals boat. Flight schedules can be inconsistent, particularly dur-
and nutrients into the water column (Louiseize et al., 2014; ing the winter, with flights being delayed by several days or
Fouché et al., 2020; Miner et al., 2021), which can in turn longer. These factors affect construction and shipment of
stimulate primary productivity and drive further biogeo- equipment, materials and personnel, and delay shipment of
chemical change (Brubaker et al., 2010; Vincent et al., drinking water samples to laboratories, which can affect the
2013). There is a scarcity of published data on baseline wa- validity of analytical data obtained from expired water
ter quality and biogeochemical conditions in Nunavut samples.
(Chiasson-Poirier et al., 2019), making it difficult to know Water sampling for community drinking water systems in
what climate impacts may be occurring now, and how cur- all communities except Iqaluit is done by the operators of
rent conditions are likely to change. This information is key individual water treatment plants, and supported by the
to the ability of communities to adapt to climate change, GN’s Department of Community and Government Services
specifically with respect to ensuring long-term water secu- (CGS). Operation of the water infrastructure is managed by
rity (Rouse et al., 1997; Mueller et al., 2009). municipal governments, with support from CGS, with the

Summary of Activities 2021 59

exceptions of five communities where this infrastructure is ically at anticipated times of differing water quality, such as
owned and operated by CGS and one community where a early spring, when ice cover is at its thickest, and again in
contractor operates the water infrastructure. The City of the late summer, nearing the end of the ice-free season;
Iqaluit manages its drinking water system independently however, the frequency and timing of sampling varies
from CGS and, as such, the data from Iqaluit’s drinking among communities because sampling is managed by nu-
water source is not reported in this paper. merous municipal governments. Currently, sampling oc-
curs between one and four times a year. The GN is in the
Many communities source their drinking water directly process of updating these regulations and anticipates that
from natural lakes or rivers. However, several communities sampling will be required at least twice per year.
have engineered reservoirs or tanks for raw water storage,
which they must refill during the ice-free season with Collection methods
enough water to supply the community for the year. Timing
of melt and refreeze can vary year to year, and municipal For routine monitoring, samples are collected at the surface
operators must be prepared to commission and decommis- of the identified water supply, and near the location from
sion pumping stations based on weather factors. Further- where water is pumped. When formal planning is under-
more, when determining the usable water volume of lakes way for new infrastructure, additional monitoring of the ex-
and reservoirs used as primary water sources, the thickness isting water supply infrastructure is generally undertaken
of the ice cover, which operational staff have observed to to better understand water characteristics. For communities
persist into the late spring, must be taken into consider- with a primary and secondary water source, water licence
ation, as that thickness will affect the volume of water terms and conditions generally require sampling at both
available for consumption by the community prior to fresh- sources.
et and/or resupply. Operational staff have observed that the
ice cover can be up to 2 m thick (Government of Nunavut, Sample analysis
Department of Community and Government Services, un- Some water quality analyses are performed onsite, includ-
published data, 2021). ing measuring the depth of a water supply, water flow rates
and turbidity. The Canadian Association for Laboratory
It is expected that future source water data collection, stor-
Accreditation (CALA) accredit the labs used by the GN. As
age and management within the GN will expand in scope as
a requirement for water licensing, a quality assurance and
the GN will eventually hold broad water resource manage-
quality control plan is submitted to a laboratory for ap-
ment responsibility after Nunavut’s devolution. Currently,
proval during licence renewal. Water quality analyses gen-
the Government of Canada holds broad ‘provincial-type’
erally follow the same accredited methods for each parame-
land and water resource management responsibilities in
ter. The data provided by the laboratories or indirectly via
Nunavut (Department of Indian Affairs and Northern
the contractor reports are then circulated to CGS and are
Development Act [Government of Canada, 2021]; Indige-
compared to the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water
nous and Northern Affairs Canada, 2017). The federal
Quality (Health Canada, 2020).
Minister of Northern Affairs is responsible for the enforce-
ment of water-resource legislation and associated regula-
Scope and limitations of this review
tions, including the terms and conditions of municipal
‘Type A’ water licenses for all communities in the territory This review considers available data from all communities
(Nunavut Waters and Nunavut Surface Rights Tribunal Act in Nunavut, with the exception of the City of Iqaluit, which
and Nunavut Waters Regulations). The CGS is responsible independently manages its own drinking water system.
for managing water quality data from community drinking Data for Igloolik and Pangnirtung have been collected,
water sources and is in the process of migrating all of the however, these data have not yet been uploaded to the CGS
data to a database. water quality database. In addition, only water quality data
from raw source water were considered, rather than from
Collection schedules any sampling that is done within the treatment train.

The frequency of sampling is prescribed by the Nunavut Data were accessed through CGS’s water quality database
Public Water Supply Regulations, part of the Public Health (managed in WaterTrax® software), which contains rou-
Act, and minimum collection schedules are administered by tinely collected water quality data from community source
the GN’s Department of Health. Raw and treated water at waters from 2014 onward. Available parameters are listed
the water treatment plant must be sampled for water quality in Table 2. In addition, data from 2013 and earlier are stored
analyses once every two years. However, this schedule var- in electronic and paper formats that are also being standard-
ies among communities as specific events and circum- ized for eventual inclusion in WaterTrax. WaterTrax is pri-
stances may require adjustments to the treatment process. marily used as an operational tool for storing and accessing
Sampling is recommended to take place more often, specif- recent drinking water quality data, including data from raw

60 Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office

source water and the treatment train. This database contains sociation with ambient air temperatures. As a result, the
data from drinking water only and does not contain data on sources of data for objectives 1 and 2 differed from those of
broad water quality monitoring. The data are also used by objective 3.
the Nunavut Water Board to ensure annual reporting re-
quirements have been met for municipal water licences un- Preliminary data overview and analysis
der the Nunavut Waters Regulations. It is expected that fu-
Data availability and general trends
ture water data storage and management by the GN will
expand in scope, as the GN will eventually hold broad The available dataset includes bacteria, metals, nutrients
water resource management responsibilities after and physical properties, however, availability was not con-
Nunavut’s devolution. sistent between each community (Table 2). Some commu-
nities, such as Arviat, Naujaat, Rankin Inlet and Whale
The objectives of this preliminary assessment were to Cove (Figure 2), have more data available. Figure 2 illus-
1) illustrate the range of sample sizes for some common trates variable levels of conductivity, turbidity, total cal-
water quality parameters available from the GN’s cium, chloride, total iron and total phosphorus over the pe-
WaterTrax database; riod for which data are available in the four selected
2) provide examples of the distribution of available data communities, where sample sizes were generally higher.
for selected communities and parameters; and Sampling for bacteria is the most common water quality
3) explore contributing factors to an increase in the con- test and water was tested for bacteria more frequently in
centration of salts in the potable water supply in communities where it is a concern, such as Whale Cove.
Sanikiluaq. Research on bacteria in northern drinking water systems is
more common than other analytes (Martin et al., 2007;
For objectives 1 and 2, data were obtained from WaterTrax Daley et al., 2018; Gora et al., 2020).
with the intent of exploring and illustrating what is avail-
able in this database. For objective 3, additional data that The differences in timing and limited number of sampling
are not yet incorporated into WaterTrax, along with data events available for different communities introduces bi-
from an engineering report conducted as part of the GN’s ases and prevents robust statistical comparisons and detec-
investigation into Sanikiluaq’s water quality issues in tion of trends. However, variability in the parameters in this
2015–2016, were used to look at how parameters related to dataset were consistent with the gradients presented by
salinity (chloride, sodium and conductivity) changed in as- Liang and Aherne (2020): conductivity/cation and trace

Table 2: Availability of water sampling data from Nunavut’s communities by number of available data points since 2016. The Government of
Nunavut, Department of Community and Government Services’ water quality database, WaterTrax, contains data from samples collected one
or two times a year at each of the communities.

Summary of Activities 2021 61

Figure 2: Water quality measurements from drinking water sources in selected Nunavut communities between 2014 and 2020, data from
the Government of Nunavut, Department of Community and Government Services’ water quality database, WaterTrax. The red dots repre-
sent the raw data, with black horizontal lines showing the mean, and vertical ‘whisker’ lines showing the full range. For Arviat, n = 16 for all
parameters except conductivity (n = 13); for Naujaat, n = 7 for all parameters; for Rankin Inlet, n = 12 for all parameters; for Whale Cove,
n = 11 for all parameters. In the four communities shown, minimum total phosphorus (TP) concentrations were below detections limits
(<0.05 mg/L), and maximum concentrations in Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove were also at or below detection. In Arviat, data were available
from February 2017; January and September 2018; October 2019; and May, July and December 2020. In Naujaat, data were available from
May and September 2017; May 2018; October 2019; and June, October and December 2020. In Rankin Inlet, data were available from May
and September 2017; April and September 2018; July 2019; and September and December 2020. In Whale Cove, data were available from
July and August 2016; May, July and August 2019; and May and December 2020. Abbreviations: NTU, nephelometric turbidity units; mS,
microsiemens.

62 Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office

metal/nutrient gradients. For example, higher chloride lev- spatial and temporal water quality data will enhance the
els and conductivity were observed in Arviat, Rankin Inlet understanding of the factors affecting water quality.
and Whale Cove. This could suggest that salt spray or inter-
stitial water from the thawing of unconsolidated marine As mentioned earlier, data in WaterTrax dates back to 2014;
sediments contribute to the composition of the water chem- data from 2013 and earlier are currently stored in a variety
istry. Higher total phosphorus was observed in Naujaat. of formats, which are currently being standardized for
Typically, increased phosphorus is associated with anthro- eventual inclusion in WaterTrax. As such, these data were
pogenic inputs, such as wastewater (Holeton et al., 2011), not available for inclusion in this overview. As more data
however, in the Arctic, it may be related to the presence of are added from current and additional communities, a more
geese (Côté et al., 2010; Jensen et al., 2019). Data for other comprehensive analysis will be possible.
nutrient and biological productivity parameters (e.g., total The composition of geological materials in the watershed
nitrogen, chlorophyll-a) were not available for Naujaat but can have a large influence on water chemistry (Antoniades
ammonia concentrations were higher (0.01–0.56 mg/L) in et al., 2003; Dranga et al., 2017; Brown et al., 2020; Liang
Naujaat when compared to the other three communities and Aherne, 2020). More specifically, both bedrock and
(shown in Figure 2) with values of 0.01–0.11 mg/L, 0.01– unconsolidated surficial sediments can influence water
0.35 mg/L and 0.02–0.05 mg/L in Arviat, Rankin Inlet and chemistry, such as in an area north of Iqaluit where water
Whale Cove, respectively (sample sizes as shown in Ta- chemistry of the drinking water source is affected by the
ble 2). More detailed sampling and watershed characteriza- surficial cover of glacially transported carbonate sediments
tion are required to assess this possibility. Dissolved or- in the watershed (Tremblay et al., 2016).
ganic carbon concentrations in Naujaat (0.20–2.66 mg/L)
were not elevated compared to the other three communities In the face of rising temperature and changing precipitation
(3.18–8.63 mg/L, 2.29–7.96 mg/L and 3.80–5.53 mg/L in patterns, it is expected that both watershed-scale factors,
Arviat, Rankin Inlet and Whale Cove, respectively), so it is such as ecoregions, permafrost conditions and geology, and
unlikely that runoff and natural organic matter inputs are local factors, such as the protection of the immediate vicin-
the source of elevated total phosphorus. Rankin Inlet and ity around water sources, will be important in predicting
Whale Cove waters displayed higher concentrations of cal- dissolved and suspended material in water sources. Com-
cium, possibly originating from weathering of calcium- piling water quality data from community sources, such as
bearing bedrock. Higher concentrations of iron in Rankin those presented in this paper, and from nearby natural sites
Inlet and Naujaat may also be related to underlying geol- will help to understand the current trends in water quality,
ogy. However, the limited availability of data points to a and to predict future potential issues and identify data gaps,
need for further consistent and frequent sampling in all which can help direct sampling to underrepresented areas.
communities to help understand organic and inorganic
influences on metal and nutrient concentrations and other Sanikiluaq case study
water quality parameters.
The case study of Sanikiluaq, a community located on the
Belcher Islands in southeastern Hudson Bay, is an example
of how climate change may be responsible for changes in
Outliers for measurements of turbidity were observed in water quality. Additionally, it demonstrates how long-term
Arviat; increased turbidity can be associated with increased monitoring of water quality and geochemical and geother-
water runoff events due to climatic or geomorphic factors. mal (e.g., permafrost conditions) properties of watersheds
Regular sampling would help show the link between water can help to anticipate and understand the processes that
quality and weather patterns; the timing of the spring could lead to variations in water quality. As the WaterTrax
freshet and other information related to weather events is database contains very little data on Sanikiluaq, this case
not recorded in WaterTrax so this information was not study was primarily done using unpublished CGS data,
available as part of the current assessment. The sampling which will be uploaded to WaterTrax, and an unpublished
dates also vary seasonally and differ across years. For ex- engineering report undertaken in response to Sanikiluaq’s
ample, in Arviat, data were available from February 2017; water issues in the mid-2010s (EXP, 2016).
January and September 2018; October 2019; and May, July
and December 2020. The timing of sampling differed each In Sanikiluaq, an increase in the concentration of salts
year for other communities as well. Future efforts could be (chloride, sodium, conductivity and hardness) in the com-
focused on recording the observed timing of the freshet in munity water was detected in 2009 (EXP, 2016; Figure 3).
each community along with ‘routine’ water chemistry test- In March 2014, it was observed that chloride levels were
ing so that these factors can be linked and incorporated into very high, 654 mg/L, which is above Health Canada’s chlo-
a compilation of key local information. Thus, although ba- ride aesthetic objective of £250 mg/L (Health Canada,
sic inferences can already be made from a few sites, albeit 2020). The aesthetic objective is the level at which water
with substantive uncertainties, an increasing coverage of becomes undesirable to consume (e.g., the taste) and can

Summary of Activities 2021 63

 Figure 3: Water quality in Sanikiluaq’s drinking water source over time (top) and the aver-
age annual air temperature (black line) and 30-year rolling average (grey line) in Sanikiluaq
(bottom). The 1981–2016 geochemical data is from EXP (2016) and climate data is from
ClimateData.ca (2021). Abbreviation: mS, microsiemens.

corrode the distribution system, but there is no direct im- rine sediments based on a combination of geomorpholog-
pact on human health. When the aesthetic objective is ex- ical observations and recent climate data presented in this
ceeded, people are more likely to reduce their water con- section. A preliminary geomorphological examination, us-
sumption or seek water from unapproved sources (World ing Google Earth satellite images, revealed that about 10–
Health Organization, 2006). 30% of the reservoir watershed is composed of marine sedi-
ments. The marine sediments were deposited when the is-
In July 2016, chloride levels had decreased to 265 mg/L land was submerged under the sea (Dyke et al., 2018) fol-
(EXP, 2016) but unpublished CGS data (Figure 4) show lowing deglaciation approximately 8.7 ka (Dalton et al.,
that chloride levels remained elevated after the initial spike 2020). When the sea retreated from the elevation of the res-
in 2014. Interviews with community members revealed that ervoir about 800 years ago (Vacchi et al., 2018), seawater
there were issues with the taste of the water throughout the was trapped and frozen in the sediments. The recent climate
year, although it was most noticeable during the spring warming of about 1.2°C observed between 1990 and 2010
freshet (EXP, 2016). More recent and regular monitoring (ClimateData.ca, 2021; Figure 3) likely progressively
confirms that, although there is seasonal variation, chloride warmed the permafrost and consequently deepened the ac-
is regularly above the aesthetic objective. tive layer, as observed in nearby communities (Fortier et
al., 2011). The warming may have thawed a thin upper salt-
The engineering report (EXP, 2016) mentions that no field rich layer in the fine-grained marine sediments. The thaw-
evidence was found to link the source of salts to intrusions ing would cause the gradual release of salty water into the
of road salt, saltwater or salt spray or issues with the water overlying watershed and ultimately into the drinking water
treatment, water distribution or truck fill systems, and that source (e.g., Lamhonwah et al., 2017). Several of the sur-
the problem was not just due to seasonality or daily varia- rounding ponds, which are underlain by bedrock, had con-
tions in conditions. It is suggested that the source of the ductivities between 30 and 80 ìS/cm in 2016 compared to
salts may be from thawing permafrost in fine-grained ma- the reservoir and adjacent lakes that had conductivities of

64 Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office

 Figure 4: Water quality in Sanikiluaq’s drinking water source between 2017 and 2021. The
data was collected by Government of Nunavut’s Department of Community and Government
Services but has not yet been uploaded to their water quality database, WaterTrax. Abbrevia-
tion: mS, microsiemens.

approximately 1000 ìS/cm (EXP, 2016). The difference in needed to properly understand and appropriately manage
conductivities also suggests that permafrost thaw may be the new conditions. Different management strategies in-
the source of the solute. Similar mobilization of previously clude adopting alternative technologies, such as in
frozen solute from thawing permafrost to freshwater lakes Sanikiluaq, or using an alternate water source. Adequate
has been observed in the High Arctic of Canada (Lamhon- data on primary and alternate drinking water sources is key
wah et al., 2017; Roberts et al., 2017). The Sanikiluaq case to determining how quickly communities are able to adapt
study suggests that permafrost thaw, driven by climate and identify safe alternative supplies or implement new
change, can affect the quality of community source water, technologies. This case also highlights the need for more
through the release of dissolved elements previously frozen holistic and routine data collection in primary and alterna-
beneath the active layer. Further investigation is needed to tive source watersheds to anticipate and adapt more quickly
better understand the link between thawing permafrost and to changes in water quality or quantity. In addition to im-
water quality. proving the collection of water quality data, a better under-
standing of local permafrost characteristics (ice richness,
To address the issue of poor water quality, reverse osmosis total depth, salinity and active layer depth) is needed.
units were installed in most homes in Sanikiluaq as an in-
terim measure until a new water treatment plant, capable of Economic considerations
treating brackish water, can be built. The authors note that
cases like Sanikiluaq require costly intervention—the an- Accurate data is essential to understanding the relationship
nual cost of maintaining the reverse osmosis system is esti- between water quality and its local context (geography, ge-
mated to be between $80 000 and $100 000. A proper un- ology, hydrology, engineering constraints, proximity to
derstanding of how water quality is being impacted is other infrastructure, etc.) so informed decisions can be

Summary of Activities 2021 65

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68 Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office