Arctic communities often face drinking water supply challenges that are unique to their location. Consequently, conventional drinking water regulatory strategies often do not meet the needs of these communities. A literature review of Arctic jurisdictions was conducted to evaluate the current water management approaches and how these techniques could be applied to the territory of Nunavut in Canada. The countries included are all members of the Arctic Council and other Canadian jurisdictions considered important to the understanding of water management for Northern Canadian communities. The communities in Nunavut face many challenges in delivering safe water to customers due to remoteness, small community size and therefore staffing constraints, lack of guidelines and monitoring procedures specific to Nunavut, and water treatment and distribution systems that are vastly different than those used in southern communities. Water safety plans were explored as an alternative to water quality regulations as recent case studies have demonstrated the utility of this risk management tool, especially in the context of small communities. Iceland and Alberta both currently have regulated water safety plans (WSPs) and were examined to understand shortcomings and benefits if WSPs were to be applied as a possible strategy in Nunavut. Finally, this study discusses specific considerations that are necessary should a WSP approach be applied in Nunavut.
First Nations communities in Canada have a documented history of sub-standard water quality. While efforts have been made to address drinking water quality, little has been done to address longstanding challenges in wastewater systems. This study developed a hazard identification checklist using a sanitation safety plan (SSP) framework to characterize potential hazards in 29 First Nations wastewater systems in Atlantic Canada. System types included in this study included centralized, decentralized, and municipal transfer agreements (MTAs). Using past system assessment reports, potential hazardous events were evaluated along the sanitation chain to assess risk within systems. Overall, 69% of hazardous events had an unknown level of risk while 7% were high-risk. This research found that decentralized systems and MTAs have poorly characterized risk due to a lack of documentation and communication. The presence of significant knowledge deficits and high-risk hazards in centralized systems cause risk propagation and accumulation along the sanitation chain, resulting in potential effluent quality concerns. This desktop study demonstrates that an SSP approach offers an alternative assessment process to the regulatory approach currently being used by proposing an enhanced systemic understanding of risk that can inform management practices and integrate the plurality of stakeholders involved in these systems.
Successfully implementing water safety plans (WSPs) in small, municipal drinking water systems is understudied in affluent jurisdictions where WSPs are not required by regulations. We piloted a computer‐based risk assessment survey in eight municipal water systems in Nova Scotia, Canada to evaluate the benefits and challenges of implementing risk assessment strategies in non‐WSP jurisdictions. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with water operators and managers to gather feedback on the risk assessment survey and process. Results indicated difficulties quantifying risk despite streamlining the risk identification process, resulting in key informants viewing the risk assessment as strictly diagnostic and unlikely to be integrated into operational practice if not required. We identified a need to shift water system culture from a regulatory‐based to a knowledge‐based mindset for successful risk assessment implementation. Clear lines of communication, increased understanding of risk, and commitment to improvement are critical to shifting water system culture toward a risk‐based water quality management approach.
While previous Canadian studies have examined microbiological water quality in First Nations, there is little published information on inorganic contaminants. In Atlantic Canada, the lead, manganese, and arsenic content of First Nations’ drinking water has been measured for more than a decade, but the data have not been analyzed comprehensively. These contaminants are linked with health problems, and high levels in drinking water are cause for concern. We examined 12 years of data from 47 First Nation community water systems to identify systems experiencing difficulties meeting sampling frequency or regulatory guidelines. While most contaminant concentrations were below guideline values, we identified elevated concentrations and issues with sampling frequency. No system met both sampling frequency requirements – a minimum of one sample per year per analyte – and regulatory guidelines. Exceedance rates for lead, manganese, and arsenic were high in some systems. Moreover, current sampling procedures for lead specify that taps be flushed prior to sampling, which is known to underestimate lead exposure. We find that a switch to random daytime sampling would at least sometimes yield higher estimates of lead at the tap. Our analysis demonstrates the need for increased monitoring and updated sampling procedures to better characterize inorganic contaminant occurrence in First Nations.
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