(Iqaluit) The Municipality of Iqaluit reports that an underground fuel spill discovered near the contaminated water tank would be responsible for the problem.
In a statement released on Tuesday, city officials explained that they had discovered traces of a past spill while carrying out checks from a hole in the ground.
The water from the Iqaluit aqueduct has not been safe to drink since October 12, when analyzes confirmed the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons in a reservoir at the water treatment plant.
The city of about 8,000 residents has been in a state of emergency since then and thousands of bottles of water have been flown in.
Other analyzes are currently being carried out to confirm whether the spill is the cause of the contamination of the water.
The municipality says it reported the spill to the Government of Nunavut and commissioned a professional firm to decontaminate the site.
No timeline has yet been announced for when people will be able to drink tap water again.
The military has announced that it will install reverse osmosis water purification units in the city, but it is still examining the water at different sites.