Sicknesses spread as Puvirnituq, Que., struggles to restore water flow through frozen pipe

Efforts to restore water flow in Puvirnituq, Que., are being blocked by bad weather, as residents continue to struggle with the spread of sicknesses and days on end without water delivery.

The village's pipeline, which connects the water pumping station to the treatment plant, has been frozen since at least March. That has forced the village to drive further out of town to truck in water and have it manually chlorinated, slowing delivery to the community of roughly 2,100 people. 

The Kativik Regional Government (KRG) said those issues have deteriorated further now, with extreme winter conditions and several water delivery trucks still out of action. 

Muncy Novalinga, who lives in Puvirnituq, said many in his community are continuing to go days — even weeks, now — without water delivery. 

"It's the worst I've seen it … to make matters worse, right now, our road system is full of slush. The water trucks are getting stuck," he said. 

Those slushy, snow-clogged roads are also affecting sewage collection, leaving some residents with full sewage tanks.

"[When that happens], we have to go elsewhere to relieve ourselves," he said. 

Parts for a temporary replacement pipe have arrived, though Hossein Shafeghati, KRG's director of municipal public works, said that interim fix won't be ready until June now.

That's due to a pile-up of snow in the area where the pipe is set to be installed, plus continued sub-zero temperatures that make it unsafe to pump water. 

The hospital has priority for water delivery — though it's faced multiple cuts in water in past weeks. 

It normally receives water through an underground line that connects directly to the water treatment plant. Last week, Mayor Lucy Qalingo told CBC they're manually trucking 70,000 litres of water every day to the hospital.

Dr. Marie-Faye Galarneau, who's worked there for five years, has decided to resign due to the conditions — though that decision comes with some guilt.

"I was in the emergency room this week, a child came very dehydrated. No water at home for two weeks. He has gastroenteritis, vomiting, diarrhea. I had to admit the child overnight and the water was cut during his hospitalization," she said. 

She said the laboratory closed one day due to unsanitary conditions.