Water service restored after shutdown prompted by sewage backup in the Legislature

Water service has been restored to all parts of Iqaluit following an emergency shutdown in parts of the city Monday morning after the sewer system backed up into the Legislative Assembly.

The shutdown, which affected Lower Iqaluit and the Federal Road areas, came after a weekend of work on the water system, which saw water service shut off for the entire city. Service had just come back online citywide on Sunday evening, according to a notice at that time, but crews were still working to repair a couple leaks and to clear "problem areas" in the sewer system.

Speaking to CBC News Monday, city communications manager Kent Driscoll said a citywide water shutdown is something only done in an "absolute emergency."

"We understand it's a major inconvenience to all of the customers," he said. "We only do this when we absolutely have to. This weekend we absolutely had to."

The city issued a public service announcement just before 10 a.m. Monday morning that there had been a break in the system that caused sewer to back up into the legislature.

The Legislative Assembly is not currently sitting.

The entire city is now under a precautionary boil water advisory due to the weekend repairs to the water system, affecting both piped and trucked water services.

The boil water advisory follows a weekend of interrupted water service as the city repaired some of its pipes, amidst extreme cold warnings and temperatures near –40 C. The city initially announced a water shutdown to certain areas of the city Friday morning, followed by a notice asking residents to conserve water over the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, the city announced a citywide water shutdown in order to repair the water line near the Astro Hill complex. Service started being restored later that evening, but was delayed in some areas as workers had to repair a water line near the Tammaativvik medical boarding home.

That work continued into Sunday, though piped water service returned to the rest of the city. On Sunday afternoon, the city announced water had been restored to the boarding home.

Driscoll explained Monday that problems began with reports of a leak in a water pipe near Tammaativvik around 3 a.m. that cut off water to that building and reduced water to the 8-storey high rise.

While crews were repairing the leak, a valve broke in the extreme cold, Driscoll said. Multiple leaks in the water system Sunday led to more problems.

The city said the boil water advisory will be lifted by Public Health after it tests the water system.

Driscoll said there were no plans to distribute bottled water to residents, and that water may appear cloudy that is still safe to drink when boiled.

Iqaluit has seen a number of boil water advisories in recent months. In May 2022, residents were under a boil water advisory for four days following a "mechanical failure" with the water system. Residents also had to boil their water in January 2022 after the city detected fuel in its water supply.

In late 2021, residents spent nearly two months under a do-not-consume order due to fuel contaminating the water supply.

The city's water treatment plant is still operating on a temporary bypass system stemming from that incident, with no timeline on when the plant will be fully repaired.