(Iqaluit) Residents of Iqaluit can drink tap water again after 60 days during which they should not drink it.
The advisory was lifted Friday by the Nunavut Department of Health.
On October 12, residents of the territorial capital were told to stop drinking tap water after the detection of fuel in the city’s pipes.
The Department of Health said in a statement that it wanted three consecutive tests to confirm that the water is drinkable at the water treatment plant before lifting the advisory.
The ministry said it had taken several measures to deal with the emergency, including installing new water quality monitors, rehabilitating the site around the treatment plant and cleaning the tanks.
Dr. Michael Patterson, chief public health officer for Nunavut, thanked the town’s 8,000 residents for their patience throughout the eight-week state of emergency.
“Extensive testing and evaluations conducted over the past eight weeks show that the water is safe to drink and the risk of recontamination is low,” said Dr. Patterson.
The statement from the Ministry of Health indicates that tests had revealed levels of hydrocarbons on October 12 and 19 “higher than acceptable”.
After further testing, Dr Patterson said he was “convinced that the oil detected after Oct. 19 was traces of oil left over from the cleanup and not from recontamination,” the statement said.
All tests carried out after October 19 revealed that the hydrocarbon levels were either undetectable or within the safe level for drinking water.
The statement said some residents could still smell fuel in the water, but this should go away after running the tap for 20 minutes.
The Department of Health had previously said that residents of Iqaluit were unlikely to be exposed to health risks from drinking contaminated water.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press in connection with an access to information request show that staff from the Nunavut departments of health and environment inspected the water treatment plant four days before the issuance of the advisory not to consume water.
In emails, an official wrote that he had to leave the water treatment plant at some point on October 8 due to an “unbearable” smell of fuel.
The emails also show that tests in Iqaluit consistently indicated that the water was clean after October 19.
In a separate statement released on Friday, the City of Iqaluit said that with the lifting of the notice, all distribution of bottled water has ceased and all water refill locations have been closed.
The Canadian Armed Forces have been in Iqaluit since October 23 to help resolve the water emergency by using a reverse osmosis system to deliver treated river water to residents.
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