Water and Climate in the Canadian Cold

Water and Climate in the Canadian Cold

A Compilation of Technical Papers and Articles

By Ken Johnson Planner and Engineer cryofront@shaw.ca 2018 Edition

Water and Climate in the Canadian North Technical Papers, Presentations and Articles by Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., RPP, FCAE, P.Eng. Table of contents 1. Nunavut’s Water: An Abundant Resource in Short Supply, Western Canada Water, 2017 ........... 1 2. Emerging Climate Change Issues and Challenges for Water Systems in the Arctic, Western Canada Water, 2017 ................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Northern Water – Treating it with Context, Western Canada Water, 2017 ...................................... 7 4. The Search for Lower Cost Water in the Far North, Western Canada Water, 2016. ....................... 9 5. Water Treatment “On The Rocks” in Yellowknife, NWT, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2015 ......................................................................................................... 11 6. Working Together for Communities and Water Professionals in the Northwest Territories, Western Canada Water, 2014. ................................................................................................................................ 15 7. Managing a ‘Giant’ Toxic Legacy in the North, Western Canada Water, 2014. .......................... 17 8. Flooding in the Far North, Western Canada Water, 2014.

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9. Diavik Diamond Mine Water Management Plan, Western Canada Water, 2014. ........................ 21 10. Watson Lake, Yukon Water System Improvements, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2013 ...................................................................................................................... 23 11. Water HR in the Arctic, Western Canada Water, 2013 ........................................................................ 27 12. Kugaaruk, Nunavut Water Supply, and Alternative Water Supply Study, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2013 ...................................................................... 29 13. The Extreme Costs of Northern “Liquid Assets”, Western Canada Water, 2013 .............................. 33 14. CCC in the Close Quarters of a Northern Water and Sewer Access Vault, Western Canada Water, 2013 .................................................................................................................................................. 35 15. Water and Sewer Servicing in Yellowknife, NWT, Western Canada Water, 2012 .......................... 37 16. Surface Water Management – A Northern Perspective, Western Canada Water, 2012 ............ 39 17. Reversal of Roles, balmy Far North and freezing Ireland: a climate change and infrastructure update, Western Canada Water, 2011 ................................................................................................. 41

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18. Protecting our Northern Waters – a personal perspective on a global resource, Western Canada Water, 2010 ................................................................................................................................. 43 19. Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan, Canadian Institute of Planner, 2010 ...................... 45 20. Utilidor Replacement in Inuvik, NWT, Western Canada Water Annual Conference, 2010 ........... 63 21. Fifty Years of Engineering for Pipes, Permafrost & People of Inuvik, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2008 ........................................................................................ 71 22. Water Supply Challenges in Grise Fiord Nunavut, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2008 .......................................................................................................................... 75 23. Water and Sewer Systems Serving Dawson City, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2007 .......................................................................................................................... 79 24. Infrastucture and Environmental Management at Canada’s Frozen Edge, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2006 ....................................................................... 83 25. Water Treatment Improvemnets in Iqaluit, Nunavut, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2005 .......................................................................................................... 87 26. Extreme Northern Water Treatment Engineering, The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Asscociation, 2005 .......................................................................................................................... 91 27. Water Treatment Options for Removal of Giardia Lamblia in Carcross, Yukon Territory, CSCE Annual Conference, 1992 .......................................................................................................................... 93 28. Batch Fluoridation of the Tuktoyaktuk Water Supply Reservoir, CSCE Annual Conference, 1990 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 103 29. Community Infrastructure Planning and Management in the Town of Iqaluit, Northwest Territories, Iscord Conference, 1990 ...................................................................................................... 123 For more information about cold region water and sanitation technology contact: Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., RPP, P.Eng. Cryofront cryofront@shaw.ca 780 984 9085

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CRYOFRONT – News, Views and Muse from the Arctic

Nunavut’s water: an abundant resource in short supply Ken Johnson, Stantec INTRODUCTION The Canadian north, including Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon covers a massive 40% (3.9 million kilometres) of Canada’s land base.

The total population of the three territories is around 100,000 people, with 50,000 in the territorial capitals. From a mathematical perspective, the north is uninhabited when the three largest communities are excluded from the equation, allotting one person for every 100 square kilometres of land on average.

It is estimated that 37% of Canada’s total freshwater area is contained in the three territories. In spite of this abundant resource, water can be a scarce commodity, particularly for northern communities that require a clean source of water year round. Winter can last 8-to-10 months of the year; and in winter, most of the surface water is frozen with a layer of ice up to two metres thick covering it. The north is also a desert with most regions receiving less than 250mm of annual precipitation, falling mostly as snow. Given these fundamental challenges, community water supply in Nunavut is particularly challenging due to geographic isolation, extreme cold climate, permafrost geology, extreme costs, limited level of service, and other unique northern community attributes.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE OF NUNAVUT Nunavut stretches south from the northern tip of Ellesmere Island off Greenland’s north coast to the 60th parallel. The eastern boundary is the Arctic waters between the coasts of Greenland and Nunavut, which are only 25km apart in places. The communities of Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, and Sisimiut, Greenland are only 450km apart.

The southern boundary of Nunavut is the 60th parallel, and the western boundary starts at the Saskatchewan/Manitoba

border, heads due north for 500km, and then angles west to the Arctic coast near Kugluktuk, and finally goes due north near the 110th longitude to the north pole.

The mean annual temperatures in Nunavut range from just below -10C in the extreme southeast, to near -20C in the far north. Nunavut does not have a significant summer season, and during the cool, brief summer, the ice-filled waters limit the surface temperature. In July, the warmest month, temperatures are prevented from rising much above 7C. In spite of the presence of the Arctic Ocean, Nunavut is one of the driest

regions in the world, with a scant 50mm of precipitation falling in the northern region and 375 mm in the southern region. In general, 50 to 80% of the yearly precipitation falls as snow. Surface water covers approximately 7.5% of Nunavut.

WATER SUPPLY AND DELIVERY IN NUNAVUT COMMUNITIES Nunavut is the largest of the three territories with 20% of Canada’s land mass and only 30,000 people. The 25 communities of Nunavut range in size from Grise Fiord (140 people) in the far north to Iqaluit (7,000 people) in the south. Eleven of the

Pipe installation in Resolute

Water treatment in Cambridge Bay

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25 communities have over 1,000 people, and all of the communities except one (Baker Lake) are coastal. Surface water provides drinking water to all of the communities because permafrost geology does not accommodate any groundwater resources.

Community water supplies make use of lakes and rivers, and provide either year round water supply, or a seasonal water supply. The lakes and rivers used for year round must consider the formation of surface ice up to 2 metres thick, which can damage the piping into the lakes if it is placed too shallow, and can damage the piping in rivers, particularly during the river break-up in the spring. Lakes and rivers that provide a seasonal water supply are used to fill long-term storage reservoirs. Nine Nunavut communities have engineered storage reservoirs that have sufficient water stored for up to a year. An allowance for the formation of ice must be considered in the design of these reservoirs.

Proximity of water to the community itself presents another challenge because of the cost of building, operating, and maintaining roads and pipelines. At nearly $1 million (CDN) per km for a road and a pipeline in some locations, the economics places distant piped water sources beyond the financial reach of most communities. Add to this cost the potential for pipeline freezing, and the severe operating conditions in blizzards, and closer becomes a lot better.

Drinking water is disinfected in Nunavut before delivery to homes.

More substantial treatment using filtration technologies is being

Sewage collection in Repulse Bay

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introduced into Nunavut communities to provide a multi barrier to the potential for drinking water contamination.

Water treatment improvements are encouraged by public health officials, and may ultimately be mandated by public health regulations.

The level of service for water delivery and sewage collection in most Nunavut communities is trucked services, with large water and sewer trucks distributing the water and collecting the sewage.

Each home has a water and sewage storage tank for the pumped water delivery and sewage collection.

There are three communities in Nunavut with piped water and sewer systems: Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Resolute.

These piped systems are unique and expensive to build because of the cost of labour and materials. The construction season for buried water and sewer systems is generally limited to three months of the year when the ground has thawed sufficiently to excavate.

Fire protection is also a unique challenge in Nunavut because of the reliance on trucked water service in most communities to fight fires. Fire losses are disproportionately higher than southern regions because of the limitations of this level of service, and other issues. One of the simple fire protection measures that applied is a 12 metre separation distance between buildings.

COST OF NUNAVUT WATER The cost of northern water, for both capital cost, and the operation and maintenance costs, is a function of the cost of labour and materials, which are

influenced by the geographic isolation, the extreme cold climate, and the permafrost geology. The water and sewer systems have operating challenges associated with the potential freezing of the piping due to heat loss, which is counteracted with pipe insulation, water circulation, and water heating. In the pipe systems where circulation and heating is limited, freeze protection is achieved by ‘bleeding’ of the water system into the sewer system, which may amount to water use that is two or three times what would normally be anticipated.

An example of the capital cost of a piped system is the replacement of the piped system in Resolute, which was tendered several years ago. The lowest tender received for the project was $44.4 million, which put the project budget approximately $18 million (70%) over the pre-tender construction estimate of $26 million. Resolute has a population of 250 people, so the cost per person for the system replacement was nearly $180,000.

An example of the operation and maintenance costs of a water and sewer system are the costs for water and sewer in the community of Grise Fiord, Nunavut. Grise Fiord is the northernmost community in Canada. The annual cost was over $2,200 per person in 2002, or 6.4 cents per litre for water and sewer (4.5 cents per litre for water only).

The overall water use was 5,680,000 litres or 95 litres per capita per day.

In comparison to the cost of water in this community, the cost of water is a mere 0.12 cents per litre in Edmonton.

A quick mathematical comparison places

Pipe installation in Rankin Inlet

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water costs in Grise Fiord a whopping 40 times more expensive than Edmonton.

Added to these financial challenges are the technical challenges of designing, constructing, operating and maintaining Nunavut water and sewer infrastructure.

EXTREME WATER ISSUES AND THE FUTURE OF NUNAVUT WATER As challenging as ‘normal’ water supply is in Nunavut, there are several examples of extreme water use issues in Nunavut.

In Grise Fiord, the stream that fills the water reservoirs on an annual basis dried up during one filling season, and the community ran out of drinking water before the reservoir could be refilled in the spring. The community resorted to harvesting icebergs, chopping and placing the ice into the reservoir to maintain the water supply.

The communities of Kugluktuk and Kugaaruk are facing issues with saltwater intrusion into their river water supply systems. Tidal action is creating a saltwater wedge that advances up the river to the point of the water supply intake. In the community of Sanikiluaq,

Water storage in Chesterfield Inlet

saltwater intrusion is also occurring with the ocean making its way into the lake that supplies the community.

Most northern communities also have limited capacity for dealing with water, whether it’s financial, administrative or human resources. Contrary to this limited capacity are increasing demands for finance, administration and human resources being driven by increasing regulatory demands, and increasing sophistication in the technology associated with water for treatment of drinking water and wastewater.

Climate change is also emerging as an issue for water supply in Nunavut.

The water supply issues in Grise Fiord, Kugluktuk, Kugaaruk and Sanikiluaq may not be conclusively caused by climate change, but the warming of the Arctic is making these and other problems worse. It is anticipated that the warming arctic climate in Nunavut will influence the quantity and quality of water that is already in short supply. Water supply options for the future are being studied to appropriately increase redundancy and resiliency.

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EMERGING THREATS & INVASIVE SPECIES CRYOFRONT – News, Views and Muse from the Arctic

Emerging climate change issues and challenges for water systems in the Arctic Ken Johnson, Stantec Introduction Many factors influence the engineering practices associated with water infrastructure in the Canadian Arctic.

These factors include the extreme cold conditions that infrastructure must withstand, ground related conditions, extreme construction and operation and maintenance costs, the short construction season, challenges of transporting construction material, delays in procuring specialized equipment, and an undersupply of labour.

It has been observed that Arctic water is abundant, but in short supply for communities that require a clean source of water year round. Ten month winters by themselves limit water supply because water can freeze to a depth of two metres. The Arctic is also a desert with most regions receiving less than 250 mm of annual precipitation, falling mostly as snow.

Water treatment processes have become complex with the application of membrane technology, which has expensive capital and operation and

maintenance costs. This technology generally is designed for ‘targeted’ treatment, which may not be easily adjusted to changes in the source water quality.

Ongoing research is showing that climate change is altering the fragile thermodynamic relationships of northern ecosystems by shifting the seasonal transitions, and altering precipitation regimes, including the rainfall events, and the snowfall accumulations. Snowmelt is a crucial source of water for shallow Arctic lakes, and snowfall is projected to decrease in some regions. What this means is that the ‘targeted’ treatment systems may be unable to achieve the required water treatment because of changing conditions.

A recent compilation of specific occurrences potentially related to climate change issues for water and sewer systems (NWT and Nunavut) identified 17 occurrences. Of these 17 occurrences, 11 are associated with water supply and treatment, and 7 of the 11 are associated with water quality.

Water reservoir in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut, which is filled once a year from a near by stream – the reservoir was sized to accommodate several metres of ice, which accumulates over the winter and may not melt until June.

Truck fill station and reservoir in Cape Dorset, Nunavut – the entire community is on trucked water services.

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Attributes of water infrastructure not suited to change The water infrastructure in the Arctic has three significant attributes relevant to climate change adaptation. The attributes are design life, a non-portable configuration, and complexity. The design life limits the infrastructure because it is designed to last a generation (20 to 30 years), which means that a community is burdened with whatever infrastructure is built for a 20-to-30-year period, with limited or no opportunity for changing the infrastructure. The non-portable attribute limits the infrastructure because it has a fixed location with a limited possibility for moving.

The final attribute is associated with the complexity of the design, and operation and maintenance. With these complexities, issues may develop with time that may be expensive and time consuming to correct. This is particularly true with the ‘modern’ water infrastructure that has emerged with the application of complex technologies.

These three attributes do not align well with climate change because by its very nature it is creating an increasingly dynamic natural environment that the water infrastructure must respond to. Water infrastructure operation and maintenance in the Arctic can be difficult enough with the ‘normal’ day-to-day function, and quite likely very difficult to impossible with the anticipated changes in the quality and quantity of water.

A changing climate presents additional challenges to the design, development, and management of water infrastructure in the Arctic. Water infrastructure is 5

‘climate sensitive’ because it is designed, built, and operated to provide useful service over decades within a range of site-specific criteria. The current water infrastructure, and the infrastructure that will be built in the next few decades will be subject to climate conditions outside of historical experience, with changes likely intensifying over time. All infrastructure systems carry some risk of failure, however, unanticipated, and rapid changes in the operating environment may increase this risk and overwhelm systems’ coping capacity, with related financial losses, and health and safety risks.

Water engineering practices associated with Climate Change The lack of system ‘redundancies’ (or backups) and isolation of Arctic communities are key features that differentiate infrastructure systems in the Arctic from systems in the south. In the event of infrastructure failure, northern communities may not have access to the situations that many southern communities take for granted, such as simple and convenient community access, piped and looped water systems, and local problem solving resources.

This lack of options to emergency situations may require the mobilization of considerable resources at great expense to address an issue. For example, Arviat, Nunavut had a significant leak in the water reservoir, which prompted the need for an emergency water supply because a

winter repair was not possible. After the consideration of alternate freshwater sources, it was concluded that seawater was the only reliable solution. This required the quick and expensive mobilization of a reverse osmosis treatment system.

A water-engineering manual entitled Good Engineering Practice (GEP) for Northern Water and Sewer Systems was originally published in 2004 by Department of Public Works and Services, of the Government of the Northwest Territories. GEP highlights that the conditions for Arctic water infrastructure often require a different approach to design than what is commonly applied in the south. GEP is currently under revision for the publication of a second edition, and the revision includes a list of climate change influences associated with the engineering of water systems in the Arctic, along with several reference documents for future consideration.

There are planning reports addressing climate adaptation that have been developed for many Arctic communities, but water infrastructure is only highlighted in the context that change will likely occur and adaptation will be needed.

Ultimately the adaptation of water systems to a changing climate will be the responsibility of the individual communities, with the available support from the senior governments.

Closure It is anticipated that the warming Canadian Arctic climate will influence the quantity and quality of community water. A significant number of Arctic communities are already experiencing water issues that may be related to climate change. The most recent climate change report says the entire Arctic Ocean could be largely ice free in the summer by 2030. Arctic temperatures are rising twice as fast as temperatures in the rest of the world, and in the fall of 2016 mean temperatures were 6 degrees higher than average.

In response to climate impacts on water infrastructure, resiliency may be more appropriate than redundancy. Historically, the application of redundancy has meant having ‘more of the same’ to be in a position to respond to critical facility issues, whereas “resiliency” refers to the ability of such infrastructure systems (including the interconnected systems and the social systems) to absorb disturbance and still retain their basic function and capacity.

Most Arctic communities currently have limited capacity for dealing with water, whether it is financial, administrative or human resources. Contrary to this limited capacity are increasing demands on finance, administration and human resources being driven by increasing regulatory demands, and increasing sophistication in the technology associated with water in the Arctic. Climate change will demand new approaches to align these contrary issues.

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THEME SECTION: AND

ETHICS WATER

CRYOFRONT – News, Views and Muse from the Arctic

Northern water – treating it with context Ken Johnson, Stantec

In November 2011, The City of Iqaluit issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA), which quite simply said that the City’s water is “completely safe to drink.” One would imagine that this PSA was the result of some particular local public health issue, but this was not the case. Vancouver-based environmental watchdog group Ecojustice created the issue while also generating an overall grade for the water protection systems in each province and territory. Nunavut’s water protection systems were given a ‘D’ grade, which by association, translated into a ‘D’ grade for Iqaluit as well.

The PSA from the City also stated that Iqaluit has a fully operational treatment plant, and drinking water is tested for bacteria and other contaminants on a daily basis. As well, monthly samples are submitted to the territorial public health agency for testing.

The end result for the City of Iqaluit of this broad-brush evaluation was that it created a significant issue for residents of Iqaluit, and a necessary response by the City of Iqaluit.

The Northwest Territories fared somewhat better in the grading, as it was given a ‘C’ for its job of safeguarding residents’ drinking water. The ‘C’ grade for the NWT represents a drop since the last Ecojustice report in 2006, when the territory received a ‘C+,’ and ranks the NWT 10th nationwide, ahead of just Alberta, the Yukon and Nunavut.

According to the Ecojustice report Waterproof 3, the Northwest Territories received a ‘C’ because, while it has begun to develop source water protection plans and improve its water treatment and testing standards, NWT dropped a requirement that water be tested at certified laboratories.

The NWT’s Department of Municipal and Community Affairs stated that the

grade is not representative of the reality in the NWT. In particular, the grade does not reflect the tremendous effort over the past decade that the GNWT has put into the roll out of water treatment systems for each and every community in the NWT (see article in NTWWA Journal 2010).

The national drinking water report card is the third such report released

by Ecojustice. Previous reports were released in 2006 and 2001. The Ecojustice report assigns grades based on a variety of criteria, including water policies, programs, legislation, treatment and testing requirements, source water protection, transparency and accountability.

The report highlighted that Nunavut has no source water protection in place and its drinking water standards are among the lowest in Canada, which are fair comments in the context of the rest of Canada. Digging deeper into the report provides a sense of the Ecojustice organization’s lack of understanding of the Canadian north and Nunavut itself.

While source water protection is an important objective for water quality everywhere, it may not have complete relevance to Nunavut given the ongoing challenges with social science issues at all levels of government.

Social science is a term used to describe all the other ‘stuff’ including administrative, financial and human resources associated with community infrastructure in the north, outside the pure science and the applied science (engineering). While source protection is not explicit in Nunavut legislation, water supply is a notable part of the community planning documentation, and the source of community water is usually delineated in the community plan. In a practical sense, the land use identification of a water supply may be considered to be an

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equivalent to source water protection.

The water regulations under the Nunavut Health Act reflect a 20-year-old regulatory regime, rather than the current Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality (GCDWQ). In practical terms it may not be appropriate for Nunavut to aspire to this benchmark at this particular time given the relatively pristine water sources that are generally available to communities. Southern Canada still fails to some degree to acknowledge the challenges that geography, climate and culture pose to Nunavut and to a lesser degree to the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. For example, water is an abundant resource in Nunavut except for the simple fact that it remains frozen for over eight months of the year. Water supply must contend with the fact that Nunavut is essentially a desert when the amount of precipitation is considered.

Water storage must contend with either heating/insulating the supply for temperatures of -40°C, or making allowances for ice accumulations of upward of two metres. Water delivery must contend with the fact that trucks are the primary means of delivering water to households (with the exception of the communities of Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet).

A perspective for the north that should be offered in the Waterproof document should be one of relative improvement, not absolute performance. A mere 25 years ago, minimum water use standards of 90 litres per person per day had just become a policy of the Government of the Northwest Territories. This policy initiated a concerted effort to provide consistent and adequate potable water supplies for each community, as well as indoor plumbing to each household in the community. Water in the far north should be treated within the context of the far north.

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The search for lower cost water in the far north

By Ken Johnson, Stantec

Water point in Chefornak, Alaska

A search continues for technology with lower costs for water systems in the far north. One of the primary areas of this search is decentralized wastewater technology and water reuse technology. The use of decentralized wastewater treatment is not new, and in fact it has provided a low cost way of treating wastewater for rural homes houses in the south since the 1940's. Technical innovations of the past 20 years have facilitated an expanding use of decentralized water systems, and water reuse systems, and even advanced the use of this technology into the urban environment.

In the context of the Canadian far north, the climate, ground conditions, and community isolation create expensive problems for piped residential servicing. In the City of Yellowknife, development costs, including roads and drainage, are over $120,000 per lot. A study over 15 years ago suggested that a comparable development cost for a water reuse system could be less than $70,000 per lot.

In consideration that approximately 55 percent or 10,000 litres of the water used in a typical Yellowknife household each month goes to the toilet or the laundry, there is substantial opportunity to save money on water use by treating it, and recycling it for the same use.

The Yellowknife study compared the cost for a typical residential piped water and sewer system, and a water reuse system over a 20 year period. It concluded that water reuse could save approximately 40 percent in the overall cost, with the most significant part of this cost reduction associated with the elimination of pipes in the ground.

The typical unit processes of the water reuse system considered for Yellowknife included a septic tank for primary treatment, a bio-filter followed by a slow sand filter for secondary treatment, and ozonation for disinfection of the water before it is reused. The application of water reuse in

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a house would incorporate changes to the plumbing system, the electrical system, and the building structure. The most important part of the system is the plumbing, which must ensure a separation of the drinking and non-drinking water supply systems.

Unfortunately, the Yellowknife initiative did not advance beyond the conceptual design phase.

In the State of Alaska, more than 4,700 rural Alaska homes lack running water and sewage systems. The palette of existing water and sanitation systems includes washeterias, and central water points, individual well and in ground systems, water and sewer truck or trailer haul systems, and piped water and sewer systems. All of these systems operate on a user pay principle with no operating subsidies, which is contrary to the considerable operating subsidies provided to water and sanitation systems in the Canadian north.

Decentralized systems are used in Alaska applying individual wells and septic systems, which make use of the favourable in-situ soil conditions. Trailer haul systems are also used, which are a scaled down version of northern Canadian truck haul system. These systems utilize 4 wheel all terrain vehicles (summer) and snowmobiles (winter) to pull specially designed trailer mounted water or sewage containers.

Conventional, community-wide piped systems in Alaska are increasingly expensive to construct, maintain and replace. The available capital funding cannot meet the demand for new systems and rehabilitation of aging systems, which has an estimated capital budget of close to a billion dollars (CDN$). As well, many communities cannot afford the high operation and maintenance costs associated with piped or haul systems.

These emerging realities prompted Alaska to embark on a significant program in 2013 to retain consortiums to develop and implement decentralized water and water reuse systems. This program has advanced under the name of the Alaska Water and Sewer Challenge.

The competition for the prospective companies was unusual because it did not employ the typical request for proposals, but rather an expression of interest, which includes funding for the research and ultimately the development of a technology to the tune of nearly $30 million (CDN$). Six companies, out of an initial 18 that applied in the initial phase, advanced to the competition's second phase, which ended with proposal presentations late 2015.

A phase three of the project is underway with the top three proposals from the second phase being funded for testing and product development. From these final three, a “winner� will be chosen, and the system is expected to advance to manufacturing in the next four to six years.

The program's ultimate goal is a secure, safe source of at least 55 litres of running water per person, per day, that will cost no more than $175 (CDN$) per month for a home to run and maintain. Wastewater management is an integral part of the Alaska system design, along with integration into existing housing units.

In Canada, there is a cautious optimism about the successful outcome of the Alaska water and sewer challenge. Certainly the successful technology may have applications in northern and remote regions of Canada. Time will tell.

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Cryofront - News, Views and Muse from the Far North

Water treatment "on the rocks“ in Yellowknife, NWT Ken Johnson Stantec

Figure 3

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Figure 2

Figure 1

Figure captions Figure 1. The Giant Mine, near Yellowknife, ceased operation in 2005, and has left a legacy of 240 thousand tonnes of arsenic trioxide, which will require perpetual care to keep the toxic material contained (See Summer 2014 WCW magazine article entitled “Managing a ‘Giant’ toxic legacy in the North”) .

Figure 2. The water supply for the City of Yellowknife is currently conveyed by an 8 kilometre submarine pipeline from the Yellowknife River to a pumphouse, reservoir, and soon to be commissioned water treatment plant.

Figure 3. The new water treatment plant for the City of Yellowknife is scheduled for commissioning in 2015, and will include a provision for arsenic removal as a precautionary measure.

The history of Yellowknife’s water supply is intrinsically linked to its start as a hard rock mining town. When gold was discovered on the shores of Great Slave Lake, and the claims were staked, Yellowknife was born as gold mining boomtown. The two most longstanding and productive mines, the Con and Giant Mines, immediately adjacent to the townsite, were both closed by 2005, however both mines have left significant contaminant legacies.

The gold extraction process used in Yellowknife required a ‘roasting’ process to extract the gold from arsenopyrite rock. Until the use of pollution control devices in the 1950’s, this process released uncontrolled quantities of arsenic trioxide and sulphur dioxide into the air around the community, which came to rest on the Canadian Shield around Yellowknife , and the water bodies on the shield.

Despite the fact that arsenic concentrations in the water supply were within the limit for human consumption at the time, Yellowknife decided to change water sources from the adjacent Yellowknife Bay to the mouth of the Yellowknife River in the 1960's. By 1969, a new intake pumphouse was completed, and raw water was pumped through an 8 kilometre submarine pipeline to the townsite, which is still used today.

For many years the Yellowknife River water supply was considered to be a high quality pristine potable water supply requiring only chlorination as water treatment. However, with the new multiple barrier approach to safe drinking water, and increasingly stringent water quality criteria, even the pristine waters of the Yellowknife River demanded an increased level of treatment.

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In the 70 years of water supply in the City of Yellowknife, there has been no reported biological contamination in the water supply. The only two events of concern have been the arsenic detection in the 1970’s, and excessive turbidities in the Yellowknife River water during the spring of 2004. The persistence of arsenic in the water, and the probability of another high turbidity event were taken into consideration for the water treatment process selection.

In 2005, the City completed a pilot scale exercise to test different treatment processes on the potential Yellowknife water supplies of Yellowknife River and Yellowknife Bay. The advantage of a Yellowknife Bay water supply would be the decommissioning of the aging submarine pipeline from the Yellowknife River.

Membrane filtration, and direct filtration pilot tests were run on both sources, and based upon pilot testing results, a decision was made to advance a membrane process. The selection and pre-approval of a membrane plant manufacturer prior to the completion of the final design and tendering of the project was completed in 2012, and PALL Canada was chosen as the successful candidate (sourced through DWG Process Supply Ltd).

Given the possibility of changing the raw water source to Yellowknife Bay, the PALL treatment system would include an arsenic treatment system. It was noted that arsenic removal is not be being put in because the arsenic is high in the potential Yellowknife Bay source water, but rather as a precautionary measure.

Arsenic sampling has been ongoing at Yellowknife Bay since 1996, and the arsenic concentrations were all less that 5 parts per billion, with the exception of one sample at 6.5 ppb.

The arsenic in the water of Yellowknife Bay and the Yellowknife River is low, so the City's selection of either source would be acceptable.

Yellowknife Bay has the potential risk of arsenic in the water, which originates from two sources. The first source would be from arsenic "remobilization" from the sediments of the bay. The sediments in the bay contain considerable amounts of arsenic, however the arsenic in the sediments is considered stable, and the low concentrations measured in water from the bay over the past 20 years support this position.

The second arsenic source would be Giant Mine, which has tailings ponds with arsenic concentrations of 20,000 ppb. If a tailings pond breach occurred, water would be discharged into a creek and ultimately into Back Bay, however

13

dilution would reduce the concentrations to about 100 ppb near the potential site of the raw water intake.

The rationale behind the potential water source change is that the eightkilometre-long submarine pipeline used to bring water to the City from the Yellowknife River intake is reaching the end of its design life, and the underwater pipeline is undersized for future capacity. If the water source remains the same, the pipeline, which has been in place since 1968, needs to be replaced by 2020 for a cost of over $10 million.

Site work on the new plant began in 2011, on the shore of Great Slave Lake, with construction of an access road to the site within the Tin Can Hill parcel. The site already has a 9 million litre water storage reservoir, which was most recently expanded in 2007.

The detailed design process was completed in May of 2013 and the tenders closed on in July, 2013 with award approved by Yellowknife City Council at the end of July. North American Construction was awarded the project for a total cost of $30 million, and the project is expected to be completed in 2015. The risks associated with arsenic in the water supply have been thoroughly considered by the City of Yellowknife, and the precautionary treatment system will provide the City with a flexibility to operate the system with several raw water sources, and provide the residents with the high quality water that the community is known for.

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Ken Johnson, Stantec (Edited from 2010 GNWT Report on Drinking Water, September 2011)

Working together for communities and water professionals in the Northwest Territories

W

ater is a defining feature of the Northwest Territories (NWT) with its abundance of clean lakes and rivers that supply communities with potable water. The management of water from these lakes, rivers and treatment plants (WTPs) is the shared responsibility of all levels of government in the NWT. Community governments are responsible for operating and maintaining WTPs. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is responsible for the regulation of water supply systems, providing certification, training and support to WTP operators, and the Federal Government is responsible for the licensing allocation of the water. The GNWT also inspects WTPs and reviews water quality data from communities to ensure the treated water is safe.

There are 30 community water supply systems across the NWT, all of which operate independently. Some of the challenges inherent in operating and maintaining water supply systems, especially with smaller communities,

include remote locations, limited resources (such as qualified operators) and operator retention.

A new element to community water supply is the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy, which was established in 2010. The Water Strategy has set a guiding vision, goals and approaches for water users, planners and regulators. Its vision is for the waters of the NWT to remain clean, abundant and productive for all time.

Of the numerous activities to success identified in the Water Strategy, a key activity is the mapping and protection of community public water supply sources. Maps assist with the delineation of source water catchment areas and are a tool to land use planning around water sources; this is the first barrier in the multi-barrier approach to water management. The goal of the multi-barrier approach to drinking water management is to reduce the risk of drinking water contamination by creating barriers, such as source water protection.

Sampling and testing are required to understand the source water quality and the

Delivering inDustrial Water solutions

necessary treatment required to make it safe for consumption. In the NWT, the chief public health officer is provided authority under the Water Supply System Regulations to direct operators and owners of public drinking water systems to conduct and perform sampling and testing.

As part of the safe drinking water initiatives, GNWT initiated a pilot project in 2007 to install online water quality analyzers and remote telemetry units to allow Environmental Health Officers to monitor water quality remotely. The primary driver for continuous online monitoring is regulatory. Online turbidity monitoring is required under the updated Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.

Remote monitoring systems have the potential to strengthen the multi-barrier approach, reduce human health risks, and facilitate more cost-effective technical support to community operators.

The GNWT approved Water and Wastewater Operator Certification Guidelines in 2006. The guideline set standards for classifying water

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“The past decade has brought tremendous change to water supply and treatment in the NWT.” treatment plants and certifying water treatment plant operators. In the NWT, there are four different water treatment plant classifications: Small Systems, Class I, Class II and Class Ill. Classifications are based on a number of criteria, some of which include: type of treatment, source water quality, and the chemicals used in the treatment process.

Operator certification became mandatory on April 1, 2010, with the adoption of Water Supply System Regulations. The GNWT Water and Wastewater Certification Committee approved an option for restricted certification of operators. The certification committee may issue a restricted certification on a case-by-case basis to an operator who was able to meet some, but not all, of the certification components. It is the responsibility of the operator to apply for restricted certification. With the letter requesting restricted certification, the operator and their employer must identify a plan for him/ her to reach full certification. If the certification committee awards restricted certification it will be non-transferrable, limiting the operator’s certification to their own facility.

Since 2002, the GNWT’s School of Community Government has been responsible for delivering the operator certification training program. The Water and Wastewater Program consists of eight courses offering instruction in the areas of water treatment, water distribution, wastewater treatment and collection, and solid waste management.

Material in support of operators is even on the web with an Operators’ Corner website that was developed to give operators easier access to operations and maintenance information.

Other information available on the website includes: water quality sampling instructions; log sheets for regular operations and maintenance tasks; training and certification information; safety and emergency response checklists, and standard operating procedures.

The GNWT has also introduced a circuit rider program to provide hands-on training for operators of water treatment plants, as well as guidance for community administrations Click here to return to Table of Contents

WTP and waterfill facility in Fort Liard, NWT

in the development of their drinking water treatment program. The main objective of the circuit rider program is to work with operators in their own facility on operational areas they would like more training in, and to work with them to help them in their efforts to achieve certification to the level of the plant they are operating. A circuit rider travels to assigned communities between two and three times a year to provide training. A couple of days are spent in the water plant assisting the operator and evaluating the system.

Since 2004, the Northwest Territories has been undergoing water treatment plant upgrades due to changes to the Canadian Drinking Water Quality Guidelines. The upgrades to some of the water treatment plants have resulted in a change in the plant classification requiring operators to advance their certification level. In addition, the Water Supply System Regulations, enacted in September 2009, require mandatory certification for water treatment plant operators. For these reasons, and because of high operator turn over, an increased emphasis on training and certification is needed, and the circuit rider program assists communities to address these requirements.

The past decade has brought tremendous change to water supply and treatment in the Northwest Territories with a number of regulatory requirements that directly impact communities and their operating staff.

Fortunately, foresight was applied in the ‘rollout’ of these changes, allowing the water professionals to work together with their community and the senior government to ultimately meet these requirements.

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Fall 2014 | Western Canada Water | 71

Cryofront: News, Views and Muse from the Far North Managing a ‘Giant’ toxic legacy in the North

Ken Johnson, Stantec

History of Yellowknife gold mining The history of Yellowknife is intrinsically linked to its start as a mining town. When gold was discovered on the shores of Great Slave Lake and the claims were staked, Yellowknife was born as a gold mining boomtown. The two most longstanding and productive mines, the Con and Giant Mines, were a result of the original exploration.

Con closed underground operations in 2003 after 65 years of production and Giant closed underground operations in 2005 after 60 plus years of production. Both mines have left significant legacies on the shores of Great Slave Lake.

The rock mined at Giant is rich in gold and arsenopyrite, a mineral that has a high arsenic content. The gold extraction process used at Giant required a ‘roasting’ process to extract the gold from arsenopyrite rock. Arsenic trioxide dust was created during the production of more than seven million ounces of gold between 1948 and 1999. When the ore was roasted to release the gold, arsenic was also released as a gas. As the gas cooled, it became arsenic trioxide dust.

In the early days, much of the arsenic trioxide was released into the air. Pollution-control hardware installed in the late 1950s prevented most of it from going up the stack, but that created a new problem of managing the solid arsenic trioxide, for which the solution was to store it in minedout chambers underground. This was thought to be a stable, long-term method of storage for the simple reason that the area was surrounded by permafrost, and had been drained for mining.

40 | Western Canada Water | Summer 2014

Over a 50-year period 237,000 tonnes of toxic arsenic trioxide was produced, which is still being stored to depths of nearly 250 metres (800 feet) below ground in various shafts and chambers.

Arsenic trioxide is water-soluble containing approximately 60% arsenic, therefore it is critical to maintain the stored material ‘high and dry’ to ensure that arsenic is not released into the environment. This effort requires that the groundwater be maintained below the 250metre level through an automated dewatering pumping system.

Managing the Giant Mine arsenic trioxide Almost all of the arsenic trioxide at Giant Mine is stored in 15 underground chambers and stopes (irregular, mined-out cavities) cut into solid rock. Concrete bulkheads, which act as plugs, seal the openings to these chambers and stopes. The arsenic trioxide dust is totally surrounded by solid rock.

The ‘doorways’ to the chambers were sealed with 1.2-metre-thick concrete bulkheads anchored into the rock. However, due to the extensive mining, the permafrost around Giant thawed, and water began seeping into the storage chambers, becoming contaminated, with the potential of entering the groundwater systems. In response to this new issue, the water is pumped from the mine to a treatment facility on the surface. The contaminants in the water are

removed through a treatment process before the water is released into the environment.

When this underground storage method was originally designed, it relied on the area’s natural permafrost, which worked as a frozen barrier. It was believed that when the time came to close Giant Mine, permafrost would reform around the storage chambers and stopes, and seal in the arsenic trioxide. A 1977 report by the Canadian Public Health Association concluded that the underground storage of arsenic trioxide dust at Giant Mine was acceptable.

When the mine permanently closed, some stakeholders wanted the arsenic trioxide removed from the mine and shipped elsewhere, away from Yellowknife’s 18,000 residents.

Citing risks to workers and the environment, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada selected a solution of reestablishing the permafrost around the underground chambers and into a big deep-freeze, locking the dust into an eternal deep-freeze.

The Remediation Plan calls for the arsenic trioxide dust and the rock around each chamber and stope to be completely frozen using the “Frozen Block Method.” A main aspect of the proposed solution, known as the “Frozen Block Alternative,” is to permanently freeze the arsenic trioxide storage chambers to keep groundwater seepage out. Integral to the Frozen Block Alternative is the automated dewatering pumping system to maintain the groundwater below the underground chambers. Planning 17 Click here to return to Table of Contents

and engineering for a new mine de-watering pumping system was initiated in 2005 by Public Works and Government Services Canada.

With the mine closure, cleanup and remediation efforts have been completed in the lower portions of the underground works and it is no longer necessary to keep the mine de-watered below the 260 m. level. Water enters the mine as groundwater seepage and surface run off. The mine water level is held at the 260 m. level by the automated mine de-watering pumping system.

De-watering system hydraulics and pumping Mine de-watering is maintained by pumping the mine water from the 260 m. level to surface at the historic Akaitcho headframe, in two separate pumping lifts. The lower lift portion of the pumping system uses a duty standby set of parallel submersible pumps installed within HDPE carrier pipes in an inclined mine shaft. These pumps lift water approximately 30 metres to a sump located on the 230 m. level of the mine. The sump is configured to provide ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ cells by using a series of concrete weirs placed across an abandoned mine drift. This sump provides a suction volume to the high lift pumping system that moves water from the 230 m. level to the surface in a single lift. Once at the surface the water flows to a retaining pond for subsequent treatment. The high lift pumping system uses a duty standby set of parallel 250 hp. multi-stage centrifugal pumps. Both the low lift system and the high lift systems are matched in pump capacity in order to provide a total de-watering flow rate of 275 cubic metres /hr.

Construction of the vertical section from 130 m to the ground level was difficult because it required construction from the bottom up, which meant that 6-metre pipe sections were lowered down the Akaitcho Shaft and sequentially added to the lower section and supported to the shaft wall. Access for this section of the work was challenging for the contractor

because all of the steps and landing down to 130 m were wooden construction dating back to the 1950s in some cases.

Commissioning the dewatering system was held to a critical milestone of catching the spring runoff inflow. The work was ultimately completed in November 2008 for a total cost of $3,000,000.00 (CDN).

Profile of Giant Mine Water Management System not to scale AKAITCHO HEADFRAME HEADFRAME metres 00metres

GROUND GROUNDLEVEL LEVEL

30.5m m 30.5 61mm 61 91.5m m 91.5 122m m 122

130 130 m m MINE MINE ELEVATION ELEVATION

152m m 152 183 m 183 m

230 m MINE ELEVATION 230 m MINE ELEVATION 2-250Hp HIGHLIFT PUMPS 2-250Hp HIGHLIFT PUMPS

213 m 213 m 244 m 244 m 274 m 274 m

SUMP SUMP

260 m MINE ELEVATION 260 m MINE ELEVATION 2-LOWLIFT PUMPS 2-LOWLIFT PUMPS

305 m 305 m

Construction of de-watering system The mobilization of materials to the project site up to 260 m below the ground surface was a major challenge, particularly since the mine is no longer in full operation. Construction of the sloped sections of the water line from 260 m to 130 m would have been a routine exercise for pipe fitting contractors, however, the contracting resources available for the work were ex miners, therefore the work proceeded slowly in the initial part of the project. As the work advanced, the contractor utilized pipefitting expertise and the work progressed much faster.

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Summer 2014 | Western Canada Water | 41

PACTS on WATER & WASTEWATER M I : g F l oo d i n

Cryofront: News, Views, and Muse from the Far North KEN JOHNSON, STANTEC Flooding in the Far North n this huge region of Canada, which is perceived by many as a land of perpetual ice and snow, the idea of flooding and its potential impacts may be dismissed as infrequent and inconsequential. This could not be further from the truth. The scale of flooding in the north does not come anywhere near the scale of flooding in the south, particularly as it was demonstrated with the southern Alberta flooding in 2013. However, scale does not diminish the ultimate impact of the flooding on a northern community.

The most famous of northern towns, Dawson City flooded 22 times in the period of 1898 to 1979; in 1979 a heavy snowfall and spring ice breakup on three rivers caused the Yukon River to pour into this historic gold rush town. As reported in the media, “The water burst through the makeshift bank at midnight, but fortunately most people were awake and alert so there were no lives lost.” Most of Dawson City floods were minor, others were serious, and floods in 1925,

1944, 1969, and 1966 caused considerable damage. The flood of 1979 prompted the construction of a perimeter dyke around the entire river-side edge of the community at a cost of $3 million to protect against a 1-in-200-year flood associated with ice damming.

The phenomenon causing the flooding in Dawson City is a function of the adjacent confluence of the Klondike River and the Yukon Rivers. The smaller and cleaner Klondike River ‘breakup’ is generally sooner than the Yukon River, which sends chunks of ice into the Yukon River. These chunks will dam up in the narrow ice covered section of river adjacent to Dawson City creating an ‘ice dam’ that can cause the river to rise several metres in a matter of hours. A unique attribute of breakup in Dawson City is the ‘ice lottery,’ which has a cash prize going to the person with the closest guess for the exact time that the ice in front of the community starts to move. The ‘ice lottery’ has been an annual event since the spring of 1897.

Kugluktuk rainfall flooding erosion

Confluence of Klondike and Yukon Rivers at Dawson City; the Klondike River is the clear water

I

48 | Western Canada Water | Spring 2014

Another northern centre, the Town of Hay River experienced such regular flooding from ice damming on the Hay River, that a local resident, Red McBryan, developed a 50-year hobby of river watching during each spring breakup. Hay River’s flooding prompted a relocation of the community centre to higher ground in 1963. The ice jamming is the result of river ice breakup in the Hay River flowing into the still frozen Great Slave Lake causing the formation of a dam of ice, which backs up the flow and water levels in the river.

The most infamous of the flood prone northern communities is Aklavik, which was the historical regional centre of the Mackenzie Delta. Although the community does not suffer from ice dam flooding, its low elevation in the middle of the Mackenze Delta allows at least a portion of the community to flood on a regular basis. The chronic flooding problem prompted the creation of the Town of Inuvik in the early 1960s, and the complete relocation, in principle,

19 Click here to return to Table of Contents

of the community of Aklavik. The community of Aklavik remains today, with the community slogan of “Never Say Die.” Rivers were not the only source of flooding in the far north, with the Arctic Ocean periodically flooding the community of Tuktoyaktuk with storm surges that have eroded away considerable portions of the community waterfront.

Tuktoyaktuk has invested millions of capital dollars in shoreline erosion protection that required the hauling of large rock by ice road from Inuvik, which is 140 km. to the south.

Flooding is also prevalent in Nunavut Territory, where the community of Kimmirut on south Baffin Island experienced rain and warm weather in May 2012, which caused a flash flood and damaged a public housing duplex.

The cause of the flow was a torrent of slush and snow that rushed down a hill near the airport at 2 in the afternoon. In March 2013, a flooding concern was raised about huge piles of snow in the community, as a result of increased snowfall during the winter, which led to a build-up on roadsides and on top of local lakes. The hamlet took precautions to avoid a repeat flooding situation by excavating some strategically located

ditches, and clearing snow away from the duplex that was flooded in 2012.

The Nunavut community of Rankin Inlet on Hudson Bay experienced a potential flooding disaster in 2013, when the accumulated snowfall during a blizzard from May 14-16 broke records for the area. Environment Canada reported that close to a year’s worth of snow fell over those three days, amounting to about 92 cm. Fortunately, the snow melted slowly enough that flooding was not an issue.

The community of Kugluktuk on the arctic coast of Nunavut has developed a rudimentary surface water management system to collect surface water and convey it to the ocean through a series of ditches and culverts. However, Kugluktuk suffers from the broad range of challenges associated with the operation and maintenance of a drainage system, such as damage to culvert ends and blockages in the ditch systems. In spite of a having a drainage system, catastrophes can occur and cause significant damage, such as the Kugluktuk rainfall event in 2007 that washed out significant sections of the community roads.

A very uniquely northern element associated with drainage is permafrost, which is problematic when water and permafrost interact. Permafrost is very erosion sensitive due to the inherent ice content.

When water and ice meet, the water wins and the ice is quickly melted. This sensitivity of permafrost is evident in the instability of embankments along the main drainage course in the community of Kugluktuk.

The land of ice and snow is a land of water and runoff for a portion of each year, and with this comes potential flooding. The prevalence and magnitude of this flooding are in a state of transition, as climate change in the arctic appears to be throwing out what was ‘normal’ and introducing a permanent state of flux.

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Spring 2014 | Western Canada Water | 49

Diavik Diamond Mine Water Management Plan Ken Johnson, Stantec

Introduction The Lac de Gras watershed is a pristine region of the Northwest Territories feeding into the Coppermine River, which travels 850 km north through Nunauvut to the Arctic Ocean. Lac de Gras is 60 km long, with an average width of 16 km, and an average depth of 12 metres, with a maximum depth of 56 metres. As an arctic lake it is cold year-round, with temperatures ranging from 0 to 4 C in the winter and 4 to 21 C in the summer. The lake freezes in October and spring breakup is in July and the average ice thickness is 1.5 metres. Typical of arctic lakes, aquatic productivity in the lake is low because of the relatively low concentrations of nutrients, low light level during winter months with the ice cover, and low water temperatures.

Water management site plan

42 | Western Canada Water | Summer 2014

The Diavik diamond mine is built on a large island in Lac de Gras, 300 km northeast of Yellowknife, and has been operating since 2003. To prevent runoff from the site from entering the lake, the mine was constructed with a comprehensive water management system for collection and treatment. Through a system of sumps, piping, storage ponds and reservoirs, the mine collects run-off water, which can be reused in processing or treated before being released back into Lac de Gras.

Plant and surface operations water management requirements include: • North Inlet Water Treatment Plant and North Inlet Pond and outfall • Surface runoff and seepage pond system; • Potable water, sewage treatment, raw water and fire water;

• Recycling and raw water use associated with the Process plant and the Processed Kimberlite Containment facility.

North Inlet Pond and Water Treatment Plant The North Inlet Water Treatment Plant (NIWTP), North Inlet Pond, and the North Inlet outfall have the fundamental objective of treating water to meet compliance requirements prior to discharge to the environment.

Waters directed to the North Inlet originate from: • Pit and underground inflows; • Surface runoff from North Inlet drainage basin; • Surface runoff from disturbed areas; and • Water transfers from the Clarification Pond.

Water inflows are received at the North Inlet and then pumped to the NIWTP for treatment. The North Inlet Pond has an estimated 2.5 million cubic metres of storage. The North Inlet Pond provides surge storage capacity and allows some solids to settle before water is treated at the NIWTP. The NIWTP was designed to remove fine solids in cold-water conditions. Major system components include coagulant and flocculant preparation equipment, two high capacity clarifiers, and four deep bed sand filters.

The filters and pH-control system have not been required to achieve water licence compliance; thus the NIWTP is operated with the clarifiers on a standalone basis.

Bypassing the filters in the treatment circuit permits throughput to be increased from 20,000 m3/day to a maximum of 45,000 m3/ day. Treated effluent is discharged into Lac de Gras via two submerged outfall and diffusers located 200 m offshore at a depth of 20 m.

21 Click here to return to Table of Contents

Surface runoff management Surface runoff historically occurs over a five-month period from May to September.

Runoff volumes depend on the particular weather conditions, and Diavik selected 1-in-100-year return conditions for sizing surface runoff collection systems.

The surface runoff collection system consists of a network of ponds that collect runoff from the North Country Rock Pile, South Plant Site and the Processed Kimberlite Containment (PKC) Pond perimeter berms. Pipelines are permanently installed to permit transfer of waters from the collection ponds to the PKC facility.

Collection ponds are designed to hold, without discharge to the environment, 100% of a 1-in-100-year return period freshet occurring over an 8 day period. As pond watershed surface areas will change over the life of the mine, the maximum watershed area was considered during pond design.

Aircraft fueling and de-icing are performed on the airport apron, which is sloped toward the North Inlet. Fuel or de-icing spills would be directed to the North Inlet.

The North Collection Pond, located west of the North Country Rock Pile, collects seepage from the North Country Rock Pile and can be used as temporary storage for mine water. If water quality meets discharge criteria, it may be discharged to Lac de Gras; otherwise it is transferred to the North Inlet or the PKC facility. The pond water collection system was designed to transfer pond waters to the PKC facility.

If collected runoff waters meet the water license quality limits, they may be discharged directly to Lac de Gras.

Raw and firewater are pumped from Lac de Gras through distribution systems servicing the south plant site. The raw water system has a design capacity of 250 m3/hour, plus standby capacity. Flow demands include the process and recovery plant; a mobile equipment wash bay; and the potable water.

The firewater system has a design capacity of 450 m3/hour plus standby capacity.

The South Sewage Treatment Plant (SSTP) services the south plant site including operating facilities, the construction camp, and permanent accommodations.

Wastewater treatment capacity is designed to accommodate 800 persons at a design flow rate of 300 litres/person/day, for a total of 320 m3/day. The SSTP is an activated sludge system with tertiary filtration. Treated effluent is disinfected with chlorine. The WWTP discharges into the PKC system.

Processed Kimberlite Containment (PKC) facility Key objectives of the PKC facility and Process water management system to provide storage of processed kimberlite (PK); act as an equalization reservoir for

supernatant water and runoff water for process plant re-use; and provide recycled water to the Process Plant.

The Process and Recovery Plants are both the primary consumers and suppliers of water to the PKC facility. The plants consume reclaim water and raw water for ore processing, and generate coarse (1 mm to 6 mm) and fine (less than1 mm) PK. Coarse PK is transported by truck to the coarse PKC storage area, and fine PK is transported as slurry via an insulated pipeline to the PKC facility.

The Process and Recovery Plants are designed to maximize reclaim water recovered from the PKC pond to minimize raw water use.

Reclaim water is used for essentially all process services in the Process Plant.

Conclusions The Diavik diamond mine is a unique worldclass operation, with world-class water management systems. The water management demands on Diavik and the other diamond mines in the Canadian north have been high, but given the pristine nature of the environment, these demands were warranted.

Potable water supply and wastewater treatment The potable water system consists of deep bed multi-media filters, polishing filters, and chlorine dosing. The raw water is supplied from the overall raw water supply system. The plant is sized to accommodate 800 persons.

Water management schematic

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Summer 2014 | Western Canada Water | 43

Watson Lake YUKON

H

Watson Lake, yukon Water System Improvements

FIGURE 1. Watson Lake water system pumphouse, built in the 1970s.

The Town of Watson Lake is a community of 1,600 people located on the Alaska Highway in the south-eastern region of the Yukon Territory at 60 degrees north latitude and 128 degrees west longitude. Watson Lake is situated at Mile 635 (Kilometre 1016.8) on the Alaska Highway, 460 kilometres southeast of Whitehorse.

The majority of the water and sanitation infrastructure currently servicing the community was constructed in the mid1970s, when the population of the community was 750. The original infrastructure includes several water supply wells and a water distribution system. Water is pretreat-

34

ed with chlorine injection at a pumphouse, then pumped to an elevated underground storage reservoir located on the north side of the townsite.

An initiative to benchmark the water system condition and plan for improvements was completed in 2004 and produced an assessment report of the overall system, with particular emphasis on the distribution pumphouse (See Figure 1). The major concern at the time was piping corrosion (See Figure 2) and control challenges.

The assessment report also commented on water quality and supply, water treatment, wellhead protection, the distribution pump-

The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013

house, the water reservoir and the water distribution system.

The water supply wells in Watson Lake have been developed at four different times over the past 35 years. The first two wells were developed in the mid-1970s, and a third well was drilled in 1993 and brought into service in 1995 with a pumping capacity upgrade. However, the third well was later abandoned due to poor water quality and the potential for contamination from surrounding development. A fourth well was drilled in the summer of 2006 but was not placed into production due to high turbidity, iron and manganese levels. A fifth well 23

By Ken Johnson, Stantec

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was drilled and brought into service in midApril 2013.

Water quality data indicates that the iron and manganese in the drinking water is marginally above the Aesthetic Objective limits in the guidelines of the Guidelines for the Canadian Drinking Water Quality.

A water treatment could easily reduce the iron and manganese. Water is being drawn from a relatively shallow, highly permeable aquifer zone and, as such, may tend to be at a higher risk of contamination from potential surface or subsurface sources. Although there was no obvious development or activities near the well sites noted at the time of the study, it would be prudent to provide protection to the areas around the wellheads. Wellhead protection was also raised as a concern under the assumption that the original wells were installed without the proper casing seals to prevent surface contamination of the aquifer.

The water pumphouse serving the town was over 30 years old and designed for a community population of approximately 750. The condition assessment of the pumphouse identified a number of deficiencies in the pumphouse associated with water storage, heating and ventilation, process piping and instrumentation and controls.

The existing elevated reservoir for Watson Lake has a working capacity of approximately 1.1 million litres (250,000 gallons) and needs to be enlarged because it does not have the capacity to supply enough water to adequately extinguish a large building fire.

Even with the existing wells in production during a fire, the total production and storage falls short of the fire storage requirements.

The water distribution system was approaching it service life, and there are segments of water mains and services to undeveloped lots which freeze seasonally.

The looping of water mains and the installation of valve stops at the vacant lots would The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013 24

35

Watson Lake YUKON

There are segments of the water mains and services to undeveloped lots which freeze seasonally. help to alleviate the recurring freezing and subsequent massive water leakage into the ground. There are also homes within the core of the residential area that do not have water or sewer available to them and consequently must rely on small wells and septic systems.

The specific recommended improvements from the Pumphouse segment of the Assessment Report included: • water storage improvements, including adding baffles to increase contact time; • replacement of chemical systems; • replacement of HVAC system; • replacement of process piping inside the building with stainless steel piping (See Figure 3); • replacement of high lift pumps; • replacement instrumentation and control systems (See Figure 3);

FIGURE 2. Severe piping corrosion on process piping in Watson Lake pumphouse.

• a backup power supply; and, • replacement of the process piping outside the pumphouse.

This work was completed in 2006, with the exception of the backup power supply.

Further work is ongoing in Watson Lake in 2013 to replace the water distribution system and sewage collection system.

The Yukon Government is in the process of replacing 3,500 metres of sanitary sewer, 60 manholes, 1,200 metres of water main and 10 fire hydrants. The construction began in the summer of 2012 and is scheduled to be complete by the end of the 2013 construction season.

References

• Earth Tech(Canada) Inc. Watson Lake Pumphouse Preliminary Design Report, 2004 • Quest Engineering Group. Infrastructure Assessment Report, Town of Watson Lake, 2006 • Department of Community Services, InFIGURE 3. Process piping replacement with stainless steel pipe in Watson Lake.

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The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013

frastructure Status Report, 2009 S 25

26

CRYOFRONT: News, Views and Muse from the Far North

Water HR in the Arctic

By Ken Johnson, Stantec

F

or several years now, I have been framing the entire concept of ‘water’ management in the north in the context of three general areas of science. The first is the pure sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), the second is applied science (engineering), and a third I have referred to as social sciences (everything else).

These general areas have a certain geography and chronology, with the pure sciences generally originating outside the north and being first in line, and the ‘process.’

The applied science may originate outside the north and usually follows the pure science with the engineering. The social science is generally at the end of the entire process with the financial, administrative, human resources aspects of social science that are a ‘legacy’ inherited by communities from the pure science and applied science.

The social science associated with water management in remote communities

44 | Western Canada Water | Summer 2013

NTWWA Operator Workshop

presents a multitude of challenges within administrative, finance and human resources.

Any remote community, regardless of size, has the need for a fully funded, fully staffed and fully trained community administration, which includes the water, and wastewater system operations and operators. However, this fully functional scenario is seldom achieved, particularly the staffing or ‘human resources’ aspect.

In this modern day and age, I do not think there is any disagreement on the importance of human resources in the success of any organization or facility. By definition, human resources is the set of individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. Any disagreement may come in the degree of importance, and the level of effort that an organization puts into its human resources.

It was around the middle of the 1980s that human resources began to establish itself. It was realized that there was a need for the consideration of the workforce in all aspects of an organization or facility; and the need for communicating with, and educating

this workforce. In effect, the strategic direction of the organization needed to consider and reflect the people as the largest asset of the organization.

Human resource issues may, in fact, be the most challenging aspect of water management in the north. People represent a very dynamic environment that has been plagued with a chronic lack of resources for hiring, training, and retaining.

There is, however, a light at the end of the tunnel. A simple example of this light is the continuing and expanding success of the NTWWA conferences and the growing success of the Operator Workshop segment of the Conference. For the past two years, the Operator Workshop has been a two-day event, up from the previous one-day event – and this two-day format is now an anticipated and expected part of the overall Conference.

As presented in the captioned conference mosaic in the last issue of Western Canadian Water, 37 operators attended the two-day Operator Workshop, with an even distribution of attendees from the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

27

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28

H Kugaaruk NUNAVUT

Kugaaruk, Nunavut Water Supply, and Alternative Water Supply Study FIGURE 1. The mechanism for salt water intrusion into a freshwater supply.

SUSTAINING communities for over

30 Years.

Every day in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, NAPEG Members play an important role in developing innovative and sustainable water supply and treatment solutions.

To learn more, visit www.napeg.nt.ca

NAPEG Northwest Territories and Nunavut Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists 201, 4817 - 49 Street, Yellowknife, NWT X1A 3S7

(867) 920-4055

30

The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013

Salt water intrusion into community drinking water supplies is not a new phenomenon, and in fact, it was been regularly occurring in Kugluktuk, Nunavut for decades. Salt water intrusion is the result of tidal action which pushes seawater in a wedge up a freshwater river (See Figure 1). If the freshwater supply intake is reasonably close to the ocean, the wedge may migrate to the intake, making the water supply unusable.

In Kugluktuk, despite various past efforts to solve the intake of seawater and sediment from the Coppermine River, murky brine flowing from the community’s taps has been the norm during the river’s fall freeze-up and spring break-up periods. A solution to the Kugluktuk water supply problem has been underway for several years (see article NTWWA Journal 2011).

Salt water intrusion is also a problem for the community of Kugaaruk in Nunavut. The name Kugaaruk means “a river flowing through a community used for fishing and to supply water.” Formerly known as Pelly Bay, Kugaaruk is located on the Simpson Peninsula, south of the Gulf of Boothia, and is home to some 830 people.

In November 2011, the Hamlet of Kugaaruk was advised of contamination of their fresh water supply. Salt water intrusion wedged its way more than 2.5 kilometres up to the water intake on the 29

By Ken Johnson, Senior Planner and Engineer, Stantec Consulting Ltd., Edmonton

Kugaaruk River adjacent to the community. The water delivery continued for some time after the intrusion occurred and many of the water storage tanks and water trucks were filled with salty water.

Tests indicated that the drinking water had a salt content four to five times over accepted guidelines.

The initial response to the crisis was the hiring of several people by the hamlet to haul water from a lake about 11 kilometres outside of town. Water was hauled using snowmobiles with kamotiks and large water containers (See Figure 2).

The water was kept in large containers in the fire hall, where people could pick it up. The fresh water is also delivered to elders and others who could not pick up water on their own.

A concurrent response to the crisis was the hiring of contractors by the Government of Nunavut (GN) Department of Community and Government Services to build an ice road to a point two kilometres further up the Kugaaruk River, where it was anticipated that the wedge had not migrated. The community built a temporary pump house (See Figure 3), and the water supply was restored.

However, since this temporary system was built on ice, this supply would only last until the river broke up in June.

After break up, it was anticipated to deliver salty water from the permanent intake to homes for use in things like washing or flushing the toilet. After the river intake was taken out of service with break up, the drinking started coming from a body of water that local people call “Swimming Lake”.

Ultimately, it was anticipated that once the flow in the river increased after breakup, the water intake would be flushed of salt and the community could go back to the permanent pump house

Kugaaruk NUNAVUT

and water supply. However, this emer-

managed to flush out the salt water from

gency brought to light that the people in

the drinking water intake on the river.

Kugaaruk, Nunavut could face uncertain-

This event, along with other water

ty with their drinking water, even months

supply issues in Kugluktuk, Arviat, Grise

after the tidal surge occurred. With

Fiord, Cape Dorset, and Cambridge Bay,

spring runoff that year, the river, in fact,

identified the need for a GN initiative to

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The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013 30

31

This event identified the need for a GN initiative to identify alternate water sources for communities.

Kugaaruk NUNAVUT

FIGURE 2. Hauling water by komatik in Kugaaruk, and storage in the community fire hall.

identify alternative water sources for communities in the event that main water sources or related infrastructure goes out of service: • Kugluktuk and Kugaaruk have issues with salt water intrusion into the water supply; SUPPORTING MAJOR PROJECTS IN AB, MB, NW ON, NWT & NUNAVUT



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   





       

                  

   

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32

FIGURE 3. Temporary truckfill station built in Kugaaruk.

• Arviat has an issue with the stability of the water supply reservoir; • Grise Fiord has an issue with water supply quantity for the annual reservoir filling; and • Cape Dorset and Cambridge Bay have issues with freeze up of the water supply main.

This study was initiated in 2012 and is scheduled for completion in in 2014. The first phase of the project was a desktop study which involved identifying, reviewing and compiling any and all background data on potential community water supplies, along with community interviews. This phase is anticipated to deliver a substantial amount of background information, since most communities in Nunavut have had water supply planning studies completed, which generally provide a significant number of alternate water supplies.

Phase 2 of the study will encompass site visits to verify and update the compiled information recognizing that a lot of the compiled information will be decades old. The majority of the site visits will be completed in the spring and summer 2013. The final phase of the study will be the report preparation that will incorporate the current site information into the compiled background information.

The water supply emergency in Kugaaruk was successfully tackled through multi-faceted cooperation of various levels of government and through the efforts of the community applying technologies old and new. This problem will occur again, and the knowledge and experience gained from the first emergency will pay off.

References:

• Williams Engineering. Presentation at NTWWA Annual Conference. November 2012.

• CBC News. “Kugaaruk working to restore fresh water supply.” January 9, 2012.

• CBC News. “Hamlet officials hopeful that spring run-off will clear out salty water.” April 2012. S

The Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2013

31

32

Cryofront: News, Views and Muse from the Far North

The extreme costs of Northern “Liquid Assets”

By Ken Johnson, Stantec The extreme cost of northern water, for both capital cost and the operation and maintenance costs, is a reality that northern water practitioners are very familiar with and manage, as best they can, as part of their work in the north. However, periodic reality checks on these extreme costs even surprise the most experienced northern water practitioner. Such is the case with the recent tenders received for piped water and sewer replacement in Resolute, Nunavut (See Figure).

Resolute is the second most northerly community in Canada, situated on Cornwallis Island at 74°42’N and 94°50’ W. The community has a population of approximately 250, and is served by a shallow buried piped water and sewer system that was constructed in the mid 1970s. The climate in Resolute is particularly challenging, with the average annual temperature being a chilly -16.7°C, and the lowest recorded temperature being - 52.2°C. The permanent community of Resolute was established in 1953

76 | Western Canada Water | Fall 2013

as part of an effort to assert Canadian sovereignty in the high arctic during the Cold War, because of the area’s strategic geopolitical position. This led the Government of Canada to forcibly relocate Inuit from northern Quebec to Resolute, and also to Grise Fiord. Expectations of establishing a significant northern presence in the 1970s prompted the Government of Canada to establish a new Resolute townsite adjacent to the existing townsite with shallow buried piped water and sewer system. The expectation at the time was that Resolute would grow to a population of several thousand people; this growth never occurred, and Resolute has maintained a population of only several hundred people.

The water and sewer system has encountered operating challenges associated with freezing of the piping, and significant operating costs associated with high rates of water bleeding to prevent freezing. The steady deterioration of the system prompted the Government of the

33

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Northwest Territories (prior to the formation of Nunavut) to plan for replacing the system in the mid 1990s. The question of replacement of the existing piped system versus transition to a trucked delivery system has been studied numerous times since then. Currently, most of the communities in Nunavut are on a trucked water system, except for larger hubs of Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

The most recent study was not conclusive on the whether trucked services would in fact be cheaper than piped services due to the anticipated costs of retrofitting the buildings for trucked services. As well, there is a strong sentiment within the community that the piped delivery of water and sewer services should be maintained.

As presented in the News from the Field, the piped utility replacement project was put on indefinite hold after the lowest tender received for the project was $44.4 million. The lowest bid put the construction portion of the project approximately $18 million (70%) over the pretender construction estimate of $26 million.

As jaw dropping as capital costs can be in the far north, the operation and maintenance costs are, in some cases, even more astounding, as can be seen in the following tables for the remote communities of Whati, in the Northwest Territories, and Grise Fiord in the Nunavut Territory (See Figure). Grise Fiord is the northern most community in Canada.

Table 1. Whati, NWT Operation and Maintenance costs Year

Water $

Sewer $

Total $

2001

167,800

71,900

239,700

2002

184,600

79,100

263,700

In comparison to the cost of water in these communities, the cost of water is a mere 0.12 cents per litre in Edmonton. A quick mathematical comparison places water costs in Whati 13 times more expensive than Edmonton, and water costs in Grise Fiord a whopping 38 times more expensive than Edmonton.

The term “liquid asset” for water and sewer infrastructure takes on a whole new meaning in the far north, and will continue to provide financial challenges to both the capital, and operation and maintenance costs. Added to the financial challenges are the technical challenges of designing, constructing, operating and maintaining northern water and sewer infrastructure.

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$580 per capita per year in 2002 or 2.3 cents per litre for water and sewer (1.6 cents per litre for water only); water use: 11.5 million litres per year or 70 litres per capita per day

Table 2. Grise Fiord, Nunavut Operation and Maintenance costs Year

Water $

Sewer $

Total $

2001

234,391

100,200

334,591

2002

255,959

109,696

365,655

$2,240 per capita per year in 2002 or 6.4 cents per litre for water and sewer (4.5 cents per litre for water only); water use - 5,678,500 litres per year or 95 litres per capita per day

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34

Fall 2013 | Western Canada Water | 77

THEME:

CROSS

CONNECTION

CONTROL

CRYOFRONT: News, Views and Muse from the Far North

CCC in the close quarters of a northern water and sewer access vault

By Ken Johnson, Stantec

manholes were problematic from the start because this technology was not suited to the demanding environment of the active layer with the ground movement and the seasonal groundwater flow. Problems that commonly occurred included water infiltration into the vaults; physical and moisture damage to the internal urethane insulation; difficulty of access to appurtenances; and freeze breakage of piping and appurtenances.

The innovation to solve this problem in the 1980s was the introduction of the Access Vault as a replacement for manholes. The access vault provides access to both the sewer and water system, which are essential for maintenance activities of cleaning and the unique nothern requirement of draining and thawing. The proximity of the water and sewer provides a heat source from the sewer, but the sewer also creates the potential for cross connection. The cross connection potential demanded a robust mechanical design, which is a mechanical marvel. Another part of the use of these systems was the definition for regulatory purposes. Manholes were for sewage only, whereas access vaults, by definition could contain water and sewer lines. To ensure no cross connection can occur, the sewer lines are completely sealed within the vault and are only accessible through a normally bolted access

Inside access vault with hydrant (vertical section of pipe)

hatch, which is sealed with a flexible gasket.

Installation efficiency was also substantially improved with access vaults, and commissioning was less challenging as the vaults had been tested prior to shipment from the factory.

Studies have been undertaken to investigate alternate, less costly concepts to the insulated steel water and sewer acccess vaults used, however the robust design needed for the harsh arctic environment has not been matched. These design features include: access for sewer clean out; access for thawing sewer main; access for draining water main; access for thawing water main; access to operate, maintain and repair appurtenances; freeze protection for hydrants incorporated into vaults; resistance to all uplift forces; resistance to thaw settlement; and prevention of all ingress of water; and accommodation of thrust forces due to expansion and contraction of pipe.

The insulated steel access vault that is presently used has rectified all of these problems associated with the previous designs. However, these vaults may cost in excess of $100,000, which includes supply and installation of all fittings and appurtenances. The cost of the access vaults may represent 30% of the contract price for the piped utilities system, but the performance of the vaults over the past several decades has justified their expense.

Photos courtesy of Steve Burden, exp

C

ross connections may not have the same importance in the North by the fact that most of the communities do not have piped services. If my math is correct, of the 85 or so communities in the northern territories (Yukon, NWT and Nunavut), only 16 or 20% have piped systems. The remainder have trucked systems, which pose unique problems unto themselves.

Back in the 1960s, water and sewer mains were constructed using asbestos cement piping. The above ground portions were installed in sheet metal boxes, which were filled with vermiculite insulation. The innovation introduced during this iteration of servicing was the concept of recirculation and reheating. Heat was added at specific points in the system and recirculation was provided by parallel small diameter copper pipes.

The next great evolutionary step was the introduction of buried servicing. This innovation brought a host of benefits, most significantly the placement of the pipe in the constant temperature of the ground rather than the extreme cold of the winter air. Buried installation was possible due to improved materials such as piping that was pre-insulated with polyurethane foam.

Along with buried pipe came heated concrete manholes for system access. Concrete

Several access vaults awaiting installation

35 30 | Western Canada Water | Spring 2013

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36

Water and Sewer Servicing in Yellowknife, NWT 2011 Servicing a new development complete with underground water, and sewer is no easy task anywhere in Canada, but the difficulty goes up a notch or two when the ground is solid rock and the construction season is very short. Such is the servicing in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

First on site are the drillers and blaste rs, who reduce the bedro ck to a size that is manageable for excavation. Th e sur vey stakes gu ide the drillers for the locations, depth, and width of the trenches that they will create . A series of holes are drilled, loaded with a charg e, covered with a suf ficient number of blast ma ts, and detonated.

lling Insta is even ins, use he ma o d h e an nt ach , for e nsive tha er servic ter lines s e ic a serv our inte one sew lated w ouse, lab has ch h insu e more roperty he two mp in ea er servic T p t u . a h p s e c w e h n a t ll ic e io v r A as nea n r ser circulat eezing. eck’ a r io wate two led with es from f ‘goose n e expans e coup t the lin clude a bsorb th ue to th c in a d e s t e . o n o t n n r io li p ec t tion he iatio conn connec ction in t ature var main contra temper and treme ex

The insta buried pip lled e is crus with 300 pre-insu lated mm minu hed rock s be d bedd of 25 mm and in d in minu g. Th the p g ex trenc ipe and tends 30 e 25 mm s t 0 crush h is backfi he remain mm abo ed ro ll v d ck up ed with 5 er of the e 0 to th e roa mm min us d’s su b g ra de.

cut ains is ewer m lated with s d n a reinsu water ent on the ns, and to prev ulation e connectio then tarred pipe that s in e h ic T rv and ons of t r the se foam, stubs a n. Secti away fo on urethane sulatio nds and the . in d e e d rr th e g be d ta a spray as the amagin ted an from d ulated, such e field insula r te a w s b t pre-in st also are no r vaults, mu te a w the

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24 | Western Canada Water | Spring 2012

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To protect hy drants from freezing and movement, ground a concrete vault is built each hydran around t, with enou gh space to access for se allow rvicing. Hyd rants designed to be ‘in line’ on assembles are the water m (hence the tw ain o pipes goin g in as opposed to the conven to the vault) ‘tee,’ to prov tional hydran ide freeze pr t otection from recirculating the water supply system.

before s are clamped The watermain rmain te wa e Th . nd be and after each t be er strip that mus also has a copp section of pipe ch ea th wi d connecte the n protection of for the corrosio shown is ip str er pp system. A co on at a bend. being welded

The finished hydrant vault is a $45,000 capital investment, but its design and the construction techniques to build them have developed over 30 years in water and sewer work in Yellowknife. Once covered, all that is visible is the hydrant and the manhole cover.

With winter quickly taking ho there is bare ly enough tim ld, bring the ro e to ad up to fin al grad All of the w ater mains an e. services are d pressure test ed and the sewer is camera insp ected.

As a layer of snow former job sit blankets the e, there are a few brave in dividuals alre ady building foun dations for their houses .

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Spring 2012 | Western Canada Water | 25

tHeMe: Surface Water ManageMent

cryofront - news and views froM the far north

Surface Water ManageMent a nortHern perSpective

By ken johnson, ntwwA director I have observed the unfolding of surface water management in the far north in a varied pattern over the past 25 years. In 1987, surface water management was an issue of limited concern for communities in the far north – the concern at that time was potable water supply and the provision of minimum quantities per person to reduce the occurrence of gastrointestinal disease.

Surface water management was mentioned as a provision of community water licences as a part of the effluent quality criteria for sewage discharges to surface water – the effluent quality criteria were fairly lenient and the enforcement was non existent. This changed significantly with advancement of the enforcement of the deleterious substance provision of the Fisheries Act of 1985.

The appropriateness of deleterious substance provision of the Fisheries Act has been debated time and time again with the regulatory committee community in both the North and South, so I will put this aside. The implications of this provision are profound whether it be for sewage or landfill runoff – certainly the most notable case in point is the $25 million wastewater treatment facility in Dawson City, Yukon.

Surface water in the Far North and the implications of contamination by runoff by sewage or landfill has significantly different implications from the South because of the climatology, geography, biology and sociology of the North. Climate has the most apparent implication because the North is a place of extreme cold; in simplistic terms surface water management is of little or no consequence for 8 to 10 months of the year in the Far North because most of the surface water is frozen. Generally ice does not have an impact because it is a solid and stable material. However the limited window on the ‘non frozen’ period is when surface water management becomes an issue when everything melts. There are emerging examples where the ‘frozen’ period is being artificially extended to manage surface water – a case in point is the Giant Mine arsenic deposit. The Far North is also a place of extreme drought and much of the far north receives only enough moisture to be classified as a desert. An absence of moisture suggests less surface water to manage.

The geographical implications of contamination by runoff are influenced by the great distances between potential sources, and therefore the potential for the assimilative capacity of the natural environment may, in principle, be applied in the management of the runoff. The regulatory community will take great exception to this opportunity, but I will put that discussion aside along with the Fisheries Act. The biological implications of contamination by runoff are influenced by the nutrient deficient northern environment, and the opportunity to take advantage of assimilative capacity once again. This condition has been reasonably well documented with a variety of studies, but again the regulatory community takes exception to this opportunity.

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Figure 1.

Iqaluit landfill photograph

Figure 2.

Iqaluit landfill runoff drawing

The sociology of the North is the final instalment in the surface water runoff equation for northern communities. The essence of the implications of contamination by runoff for northern communities is that the non industrial nature of these small communities and their aboriginal fabric are inherent to runoff that is low in contaminants.

An interesting case study for surface water management is the City of Iqaluit landfill water management, which has evolved over the past 20 years (See Figure 1). The City of Iqaluit operates a landfill system for the disposal of the solid waste generated in the community. The City holds a Water License, which states that the City is required to collect, monitor and control the discharge of runoff from the site. The landfill site relies on the local permafrost regime to provide a low permeability barrier to control subsurface runoff. The site currently employs a surface water management system to divert off-site surface runoff from entering the site, and to collect on-site surface runoff for a controlled discharge into the environment. In 2006, the City upgraded the landfill’s drainage management system by constructing a perimeter berm structure, three on-site detention ponds and an off-site retention pond (See Figure 2). The historical sampling results from the landfill runoff retention pond show that the water is consistently over the maximum allowable concentration limits for iron, manganese and zinc in the regulations applied to the landfill.

The City has examined treatment options that could be applied to the landfill runoff, including wetland treatment, mechanical treatment (membrane bioreactor technology) and physical-chemical treatment with filtration. Of these four options, the physical chemical treatment with filtration is the most appropriate technology for the community because of cost, reliability and ease of operation. As a first step in applying this option, the City initiated a filtration process in 2010 to determine the practicality and the potential treatment of the runoff by filtration alone. The next phase of the trial process for the City will be applying chemical treatment in advance of the physical filtration process.

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40

CRyOfRONT: News and Views from the Far North

Reversal of roles – balmy Far North and freezing Ireland: a climate change and infrastructure update

By Ken Johnson, NTWWA Director

It has been almost two years since the first Cryofront column in Western Canada Water reported on climate change, and water supply in the far north. With the record breaking weather in the far north and Europe over the course of 2010, and into 2011, it appears to be a good opportunity for an update.

The record breaking warm temperatures across the far north are almost becoming an annual expectation as the predictions for climate change are coming to fruition – decades in advance of the anticipated timeline. There are some grim predictions for the health of polar bears this year as the ice pack has been particularly slow to form this winter, however there are also reports that the polar bear’s adaptive capacity is well beyond our expectations. But, what does any of this have to do with water?

The ‘frozen’ season of the far north is one period during the cycle of the seasons that one would expect to see a minimal impact of climate change because frozen is a ‘stable’ condition, and water is more or less in the same state of ‘solid’ at -50 C and -10 C. However, several extraordinary ‘thaws’

24 | Western Canada Water | Spring 2011

over the course of the 2010-11 winter are putting this whole theory on its head, and highlighting some consequences for municipal operations. It was 0 C in Iqaluit at noon on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, when the normal daytime high would be -22 C. Iqaluit city crews suspended municipal services on Tuesday morning, but resumed work in the afternoon.

While temperatures in Iqaluit were hovering around 0 C on January 3, the thermometer reached a high of 8 C in Pangnirtung, which is 300 kilometres NORTH of Iqaluit. Pangnirtung set a record high temperature, shattering an old record of -3.7 C set in 2002. Iqaluit set new records with temperatures rising to +1.2 C on January 3, breaking the record of -1.7 C set in 1970.

Nunavut’s unusually mild winter is connected to an especially cold winter in parts of Western Europe, which British newspapers have dubbed “Arctic” even though temperatures there fell only to -13 C at their coldest and are averaging around the freezing mark. Warm air and storms that normally head east past Atlantic Canada and on toward Europe were instead turning North and heading to Baffin Island.

The warm weather introduced a lot of water onto the roads of Iqaluit making it difficult to keep them sanded.

The roads were so bad because rain covered the previous day’s sand, then froze, so crews had to chip ice away Environment Canada weather map for with a grader before applying January 5, 2011 shows unusually warm temperatures in northeastern Canada more sand to the roads. The shutdown was unusual because Iqaluit’s policy governing storms is geared towards winter blizzards, not winter rainfall.

In Europe, in particular Ireland, the rain-soaked island, was importing water in early January (2.73 million litres of emergency drinking water) from Scotland to help cope with taps that ran dry in hundreds of thousands of homes because a once-in-a-century freeze burst buried water pipes.

Many districts of Dublin are experiencing overnight water shut-offs from 6:00 p.m. until noon, and city officials appealed to residents to cut down the number of times they flushed their toilets. In parts of Dublin restaurants had to close and some of those that opened are unable to provide tap water or coffee for customers. There were unprecedented scenes in Belfast as thousands of residents holding plastic containers formed lines to draw water from trucks at temporary supply points. Around 40,000 homes in Northern Ireland were without clean water for several days.

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Buried pipe installation in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories with about 3.5 metres of ground cover for freeze protection

Ireland has an old system of water pipes laid only 60 centimetres beneath the ground. The depth was considered adequate to prevent freezing as temperatures rarely fall much below freezing in Ireland’s temperate climate. During the cold spell in December, the temperature dropped to -12 C on average and to -18 C in a number of locations, breaking all records.

This reversal of roles and its interconnection on a global climate scale is amazing, and the fall out could be the application of Canadian ‘cold regions’ technology to parts of Europe in the near future.

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Spring 2011 | Western Canada Water | 25

CRyOfRONT: News and Views from the Far North

Protecting our northern waters a personal perspective on a global resource

By Ken Johnson, NTWWA Director

Thanks to Jean Soucy, a water professional from the town of Fort Smith, who directed me to the recently published (May 2010) NWT Water Stewardship Strategy for this particular northern view.

My own personal connection with northern waters was firmly established over 20 years ago with the adventure of a lifetime on a two-week paddle down the Nahanni River, which is a major tributary to the Mackenzie River. The trip

had everything to offer, a beautiful maiden (who was my paddling partner), a couple of yahoos in another canoe (Mike and Doug), and a near death experience at Virginia Falls (for Doug not me); all set against the backdrop of a world class river – WOW. This experience galvanized my interest in the north, and in particular northern waters, which has been a ‘passion’ for me for the past 22 years; and I expect it to remain a passion for next 20 years at least.

Stewardship, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, is an ethic that embodies cooperative planning and management of environmental resources with organizations, communities and others to actively engage in the prevention of loss of habitat and facilitate its recovery in the interest of long-term sustainability – that is wordy enough to choke a fish. Another more brain-friendly definition is the responsibility to take care of something owned by someone else.

Now apply this to the a river and its tributaries that is the second longest river in North America at 4,241 kilometres (2,635 mi), drains

A much younger Ken Johnson stands on the largest tufa mound in Canada formed by mineral deposition from a hot springs along the Nahanni River.

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1,805,200 square kilometres (697,000 sq mi) and has a mean discharge of 10,700 cubic metres per second (380,000 cu ft/s), and I would say that you have a very, very big challenge.

The waters of the NWT are not only important to the territory itself, but they are also regarded as a significant resource worldwide. Not surprisingly, the Mackenzie River basin’s natural climate system helps stabilize the earth’s climate.

There could be ecological and water-related implications for the entire continent if the Mackenzie River basin system changes too much. Who would think that protecting our northern waters would have such global implications?

The Vision of the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy is that “the water of the Northwest Territories will remain clean , abundant and productive for all time.” On a local scale, the NWT waters are important for northern ecosystems and the people within those ecosystems.

Watershed values also include community water supply and wastewater treatment means and methods. As northern water professionals, this is where we strategically and importantly fit into the picture as stewards of the water of the north.

The Publication of the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy also coincides with the recent signing of a Forest Products Association agreement, which is part of an ongoing strategic national effort to make Canada’s boreal forest the world’s best protected ecosystem. About 4.4 million of the country’s 5.5 million square kilometres of boreal forest are intact, and two-thirds of that area could be protected. It is believed that our boreal forest is more protected than any other intact forest ecosystem in the world.

An interesting part of the whole stewardship process is the valuation of watersheds, which means understanding and ‘accounting’ for the value. Believe it or not, the market value of the Mackenzie watershed has been assessed at an estimated $42 billion per year or $245 per hectare on average – another WOW! Ken Johnson may be contacted at: ken.johnson@cryofront.com For more information: www.enr.gov.nt.ca

Ken Johnson above Virginia Falls on the Nahanni River.

Ken Johnson and paddling buddy ‘dig water’ on the Nahanni River – a tributary to the Mackenzie River.

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Fall 2010 | Western Canada Water | 53

Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Project Partners Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Natural Resources Canada Government of Nunavut Canadian Institute of Planners

July 2010

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Table of Contents 1.

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................1

2.

Summary .......................................................................................................2

3.

Project Overview ..........................................................................................3 Nunavut Climate Change Adaptation Partnership .............................................................. 3 What is a Climate Change Adaptation Plan? ..................................................................... 3 Project Description............................................................................................................. 4 The Planning Process ........................................................................................................ 5

4.

Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan .............................................8 Identifying Issues, Impacts and Responses ....................................................................... 8 Recommended Actions ...................................................................................................... 9

5.

References ..................................................................................................15

6.

Resources ...................................................................................................15

7.

Appendices .................................................................................................16 A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H.

Trip Summary Reports Student Interviews Presentations Consultation Posters Samples of materials produced: bookmarks, meeting posters, handouts Kugluktuk Maps and Community Plan Science Reports from NRCan Project Photos

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

1.

Acknowledgements

This Climate Change Adaptation Plan would not have been possible without the support and assistance of the community of Kugluktuk. The planning team would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who contributed in various ways:      

community members who shared their knowledge and hopes for Kugluktuk through individual interviews and by participating in community meetings the students, elders, and organizers at the August 2009 science camp at Basil Bay, who provided insight into the climate change challenges facing the people of Kugluktuk the Kugluktuk Radio Society which provided access to listeners by hosting four call-in radio shows the Kugluktuk High School which organized three workshops for students to provide input into the climate change adaptation plan students Chris Ilgok, Savannah Angnalak and Barbara Kapakatoak who made presentations about the climate change adaptation plan at community meetings our simultaneous translator Mona Tiktalek.

The planning team is grateful to our community partners:  

the staff and elected officials of the Hamlet of Kugluktuk for their professional input and logistical support the Government of Nunavut staff who provided background documentation, community contacts, logistical support, and excellent advice and professional input to the various drafts of the plan.

The planning team would also like to acknowledge the support of the project partners: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Government of Nunavut, and the Canadian Institute of Planners.

We sincerely thank the people of Kugluktuk who shared their time, knowledge, and concerns about the future of their precious community. It is our hope that this plan will provide a tool to help you prepare your community to successfully adapt to the potential impacts of climate change.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

2.

Summary

The Government of Nunavut is currently working in partnership with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and the Canadian Institute of Planners, Nunavut communities, and other stakeholders on the Nunavut Climate Change Partnership. Included in this work are projects specific to climate change adaptation at the community level. Kugluktuk was selected as one of five communities to participate in the Nunavut Climate Change Adaptation Planning project by developing a local climate change adaptation plan.

Over a fourteen month period, the planning team visited Kugluktuk five times to seek guidance from community members, including elders, youth, and professionals, on their own experiences with climate change impacts, and exchange ideas on climate change adaptation. Each of these visits served to build upon the knowledge of the planning team regarding the issues related to climate change facing the community of Kugluktuk.

The planners were also provided with preliminary findings from scientists from Natural Resources Canada. In addition, the planning team was provided with reference material pertaining to climate change in Nunavut and specific to Kugluktuk. All of these references, as well as the observations made by the planners during their visits, were the sources of information for this plan.

The recommended actions are organized into three categories:   

Community Capacity: relating to increasing the capacity to incorporate climate change issues into the decision making of the community as a whole, and individuals in the community, Technical: relating to changes to infrastructure and the built environment to address potential climate change vulnerabilities, and Implementation: relating to organizational change, governance and changes to policies and standards that support implementation of the Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

The planning team hopes that this plan will be received, discussed and amended by the Council of the Hamlet of Kugluktuk, and ultimately adopted as a roadmap to prepare the community for potential climate change impacts. This plan should be considered in combination with other plans and policy documents, including the Kugluktuk Community Plan and the Coppermine River Management Plan. The plan should also be reviewed and updated periodically as the recommendations are implemented and new information about climate change impacts in Kugluktuk becomes available.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

3.

Project Overview

Nunavut Climate Change Adaptation Partnership Over the past several decades, residents of the far north, in particular the Nunavut Territory, have witnessed changes in their natural environment. Much of this change has only been recorded in anecdotal forms, but the scientific community has recognized that the north has been witnessing firsthand the impacts of climate change. The observed impacts have varied in character and magnitude, but it has been generally agreed that significant changes are occurring in the nature of northern weather. These changes directly influence the “frozen” and “unfrozen” environmental periods, which dominate the annual cycle of life in the north. Land and water are both influenced by these changes. The significant reliance on the natural environment, from a traditional perspective, as well as a non-traditional perspective, creates impacts that influence the way all northerners live, work and in some instances “survive” in the harsh northern environment.

The climate change challenge requires a global mitigation approach for it to be ultimately successfully in reducing the impact in the north, and elsewhere. At the same time adaptive solutions have been recognized to be necessary to address the impacts of climate change at the local level in the north.

The Department of Environment, Government of Nunavut is currently working in partnership with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Nunavut communities, and other stakeholders on the Nunavut Climate Change Partnership.

Included in this work are projects specific to climate change adaptation at the community level. Kugluktuk was selected as one of five communities to have the opportunity to participate in the Nunavut Climate Change Adaptation Planning project to develop a local climate change adaptation plan.

What is a Climate Change Adaptation Plan?

A changing climate means that there will be significant changes to land, water, plants and animals.

Climate change impacts have already been observed in the north. For example, permafrost and multiyear sea ice are melting, land and water bodies are changing, and sea levels are rising. Nunavummiut report that plants are growing earlier in the spring, and new plants have been observed in regions where they have never been seen before. Animals from southern regions - such as moose, coyotes, whitetailed deer and cougars - are moving further north. Northern animals such as char, caribou, and polar bears are displaying behaviours that may be attributed to a changing environment, as a result of a changing climate.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

A Climate Change Adaptation Plan is a tool to help communities prepare and respond to potential climate change impacts. A plan may include the following elements:       

Identification of Local Issues and Impacts Identification of Potential Responses Setting Priorities for Responses Developing Targets and Timelines for Responses Creating an Implementation Strategy Monitoring and Evaluating the Progress of Implementation of the Plan Review and Revision of the Plan

The key element in the ultimate success of this tool is to make use of local experience and expertise in identifying potential responses, setting priorities for responses, and developing the framework for implementation.

A Climate Change Adaptation Plan may include recommended technological responses to climate change impacts, such as how to build a storm water drainage system that has capacity for more intense storms, and recommendations for how to build community capacity to prepare for potential climate change impacts.

Climate change mitigation planning, which is the community based reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, was not part of the mandate of this project. Questions and suggestions relating to mitigation were raised by community members during the consultation process, therefore it would appear that there is an interest in learning more about climate change mitigation, and how Kugluktuk can reduce emissions and benefit economically from reduction of energy use.

Project Description Elisabeth Arnold and Ken Johnson are professional planners, each with two decades of planning related experience from across Canada. Elisabeth and Ken are both members of the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP). This planning team consulted with many local stakeholders varying from community elders to high school students, as well as local and regional Government of Nunavut professionals from the Departments of Environment; Education; Community and Government Services; Health and Social Services; and Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. The planning team also consulted with Natural Resources Canada scientists to obtain their perspective on climate change impacts specific to Kugluktuk.

The entire exercise was undertaken in partnership with the community of Kugluktuk.

Over a fourteen month period, the planning team visited Kugluktuk five times to seek guidance from the community on their own experiences with climate change impacts, and exchange ideas on climate change adaptation.

The five trip reports are appended to this plan in Appendix A. The purpose of each trip is summarized as follows:

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

First Community Visit – Orientation - March 24 - 26, 2009  Community tour  Delegation to Kugluktuk Hamlet Council  Meetings with GN staff  Meetings with Hamlet Staff  Meetings with additional community stakeholders Second Community Visit - Reporting Visit - August 17 - 21, 2009  Stakeholder group briefings  Meetings with new community stakeholders  Radio call-in show  Community tour with NRCAN staff  Youth and Elder Science Camp presentation and discussion Third Community Visit –Response Development - November 16 - 19, 2009  Stakeholder group briefings  Radio call-in show  High School student and elder workshop  High school student mentoring assistance (between second and third visit)  Community meal and meeting Fourth Community Visit - Draft Plan Presentations - March 1 - 4, 2010  Stakeholder group briefings  Radio call-in show  High School student workshop  Community meal and meeting to present draft plan Final Community Visit - Presentation of Plan - May 11 – 14, 2010  Delegation to Kugluktuk Hamlet Council  Stakeholder group briefings  Radio call-in show  High School student workshop  Community meal and meeting to present final plan

The Planning Process Each of these visits served to build upon the knowledge of the planning team regarding the issues related to climate change facing the community of Kugluktuk. Individual and group meetings revealed that community members held a wide range of opinions and concerns regarding climate change and the potential impact of climate change on Kugluktuk. Some community members expressed a healthy scepticism regarding the causes and potential impacts of climate change, while others were extremely concerned about impacts both on the land and water environments, and the community as a whole.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

All stakeholder inputs were highly valued by the planning team. There were two exceptional opportunities to learn from the community: the first opportunity was the Science Camp at Basil Bay in August 2009, and the second opportunity was the student-elder workshop held at Kugluktuk High School in November 2009. These events demonstrated the value of engaging the elders and the youth of the Kugluktuk community in discussing the elders’ observations and knowledge based on oral tradition, as well as the science of climate change.

At the August 2009 Basil Bay Science camp the planning team, accompanied by NRCan scientist Rod Smith, participated in a facilitated discussion about climate change impacts in Kugluktuk. Following the camp, students were asked to interview elders regarding their observations related to climate change.

These poignant interviews are attached in appendix B. The planning team observed that the elders expressed a greater degree of concern about the impacts of climate change and fear for the future of the community when interviewed by the youth in comparison to the discussions with the planning team.

The subsequent workshop held at the High School in November 2009, was facilitated by the planning team and provided an opportunity for the youth and elders to engage in identifying climate change impacts and potential responses specific to Kugluktuk. The workshop used a series of posters with photos to identify issues and impacts related to climate change in Kugluktuk to solicit ideas for responses 1 exercise was used to identify the participant’s priorities for to climate change. A “dotocracy” implementation. The results of this exercise were shared with the full community at a meeting the following evening.

Issues relating to both the physical environment and community life were reviewed by participants at the community meeting, as were potential responses relating to both technical and community capacity challenges to planning for climate change adaptation. Participants were asked to add any new issues and responses they could identify. They were then asked to establish the priorities for action based on the perceived urgency and potential positive adaptation impact of the response using the “dotocracy” technique.

Following this third visit, in November, 2009, a draft Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan was developed by the planning team, based on the community input received from these consultation exercises. The planning team also considered the input from the two science reports provide by NRCan, as well as the planners’ own observations and knowledge. The draft plan was circulated to the projectstakeholders in advance of their fourth visit.

During the fourth visit, which took place March 1- 4, 2010, community members were asked to identify priorities, timeframes and lead responsibility for the climate change adaptation responses and implementation strategies identified in the draft plan. They were asked to keep in mind the urgency of addressing the potential climate change impact, the potential positive adaptation impact of the response, and the logical sequence for implementing the action.

1

A “dotocracy” exercise involves giving participants a number of sticky dots to indicate their preferences for various options.

This technique can provide an opportunity for increasing interaction amongst participants during a public meeting, as well as providing a high level indication of priorities.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Community members were also asked to identify responses that may not be appropriate or feasible for implementation in Kugluktuk, responses that were already underway, and any other responses that should be included in the plan.

The final Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan reflects the feedback received from the community during visit 4, as well as input from GN and Hamlet professional staff, and the planners’ own observations and expertise.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

4.

Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Identifying Issues, Impacts and Responses Climate change issues and impacts observed in Kugluktuk were identified through interviews and group meetings with community members, including elders, youth, and professionals. The planners were also provided with preliminary findings from scientists from NRCan. In addition, the planning team was provided with reference material pertaining to potential climate change impacts in Nunavut and specific to Kugluktuk. All of these references, as well as the observations made by the planners during their visits, are sources of inputs to this plan.

Community members provided input through individual interviews, stakeholder meetings, a group discussion at the youth science camp, an elder-youth workshop at the High School, and a community meeting. Community members tended to put a priority on issues related to safe travel on the land and sea, as well as ensuring Kugluktuk’s drinking water and storm water drainage system meet the requirements of the community.

Climate change science issues were identified through preliminary observations from a field visit and report by Rod Smith (August 2009) and a report by Thomas S. James et al (2009) Natural Resources Canada (reports attached in appendix G). These preliminary studies note that:   

more field-based study and substantiating will be required before the findings may be incorporated into a design/adaptation strategy; the preliminary studies may be most useful in identifying knowledge needs/gaps that can be used to support the planning process; and sea-level rise projections are intended only as a starting point for discussions of the possible impacts of sea-level change and the potential mitigation measures that could be implemented.

The most urgent areas identified for further study by the scientists were: coring to establish ice-content in soils in vulnerable areas, development of a drainage plan to accommodate climate change scenarios, and protection of the community’s water supply.

The planning team prioritized the following issues in three categories:   

Technical issues in the community: safety of the drinking water supply, capacity of the storm water system, potential for land subsidence; Issues on the land and sea: safety of travel on the land and the sea; and Community capacity issues: lack of consideration of potential climate change vulnerability in decision making.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

For each of the issues and impacts identified, potential adaptation responses were suggested by community members, confirmed in the NRCan reports, or recommended by the planning team. Each response was prioritized based on the perceived urgency and potential positive adaptation impact of the response.

The planning team solicited suggestions from all stakeholders for a realistic timeframe for implementation of the recommended actions, as well as suggestions for which authority (individual or organization) should assume the lead responsibility, appropriate roles for the various stakeholders, and the status of any existing climate change adaptation initiatives.

There are numerous strengths to build on in planning for climate change adaptation in Kugluktuk. There is a resilient population, elders and youth willing to be engaged in finding solutions, and technical proficiency and commitment of individuals in various positions of responsibility in the community. An excellent example of this commitment is the support offered and action taken by the Kugluktuk High School and Department of Education staff in providing the opportunities for the planning team to connect to the community.

There are also many community capacity issues facing Kugluktuk that will make it challenging to implement a Climate Change Adaptation Plan in an expeditious and consistent manner. The planning team has attempted to provide a series of realistic, achievable recommendations for action, developed in collaboration with the people of Kugluktuk. In addition, implementation tools and approaches are proposed to build the capacity of the Kugluktuk community to prepare for potential climate change impacts.

Recommended Actions This plan reflects the substantial input received from community members and the technical support provided by NRCan scientists over a one year period and four community visits. The planning team has developed the recommended actions taking into account this input, as well as reference material pertaining to climate change in Nunavut and specific to Kugluktuk, and their own observations from visits to Kugluktuk.

The plan recognizes that not all recommendations are equally urgent, and that there are very limited human and financial resources available to address the identified potential climate change vulnerabilities.

The plan recommends actions that may be implemented in the next 1-2 years to address the most pressing issues, as well as to prepare the community to address climate change issues in the future.

Other recommendations are identified for the medium (3-4 years) or longer (4+ years) terms as resources permit.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

The recommended actions are organized into three categories:   

Community Capacity: relating to increasing the capacity to incorporate climate change issues into the decision making of the community as a whole, and individuals in the community, Technical: relating to changes to infrastructure and the built environment to address potential climate change vulnerabilities, and Implementation: relating to organizational change, governance and changes to policies and standards that support implementation of the Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan.

The planning team hopes that this plan will be received, discussed and amended by the Council of the Hamlet of Kugluktuk, and ultimately adopted as a roadmap to prepare the community for potential climate change impacts. This plan should be considered in combination with other plans and policy documents, including the Kugluktuk Community Plan and the Coppermine River Management Plan. The plan should also be reviewed and updated periodically as the recommendations are implemented and new information about climate change impacts in Kugluktuk become available.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Community Capacity Issue

Impacts

Responses

Priority

Timing

Lack of knowledge about climate change and potential impacts.

Planning occurs without taking climate change into account, so community may not be as prepared as possible.

Training on climate change for community leaders and professionals at Hamlet and GN geared to non-experts.

Community, high school and elder workshops on climate change.

Create a Kugluktuk community climate change network to share resources and information.

Identify staff positions responsible for climate change adaptation in Kugluktuk.

Identify dedicated staff resources for climate change work.

Develop a plan to reduce staff turnover to increase continuity of knowledge Change hunting habits to adapt to climate change impacts.

Repair and replace unsafe trails.

Establish river and trail monitoring and early warning systems.

Secure better equipment for ocean travel in summer and winter.

Improve forecasting, surveillance and reporting of ocean and ice conditions.

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Medium

3-4 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Medium

3-4 yrs

GN and Hamlet

Medium

3-4 yrs

GN

High

1-2 yrs

High High

1-2 yrs 1-2 yrs

Medium

3-4 yrs

Medium

3-4 yrs

Hamlet Hunters and Trappers Organization GN-Search and Rescue (currently distributing GPS’s) GN-Dep’t of Env’t Wildlife Officers GN-Dep’t of Sust. Dev., Parks (note complementary recommendations in the Draft Management Plan for the Coppermine River)

Change animals harvested to reflect change in wildlife.

Re-establish the community freezer.

Low

4+ yrs

Low

4+ yrs

Lack of human and financial resources to seek knowledge and implement solutions.

Lack of “ownership” of issue at community level.

Changing weather patterns, including severe storms and rainfall, early ice melt and river overflow, later freeze-up Safe access to hunting, fishing and recreational areas.

Inadequate emergency response systems.

Increasingly difficult to harvest country food.

kugluktuk climate change adaptation plan 100726 final

Issues and potential solutions are not acted upon.

Unpredictable and unsafe conditions on the land, river and ocean.

Increased injury and loss of life due to accidents.

Reluctance of community members to participate in hunting activities.

Limited and unsafe trail access at certain times of the year (including Coppermine River trail).

Changes in wildlife.

Recommended Lead Responsibility and Role/Current Status Hamlet – to organize NRCan – to provide training GN-Environment to finance, Education to support implementation GN-Environment and Education to develop curriculum and workshops Hamlet to lead in organizing and supporting GN-Dept’s of GIS and Env’t to share data GN and Hamlet to build into job descriptions and identify accountabilities

All agencies need to cooperate to develop common communications strategies.

Community members Hamlet HTO GN-Dep’t of Sust. Dev., Parks (note complementary recommendations in the Draft Management Plan for the Coppermine River)

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Technical Issues Issues

Impact

Responses

Priority

Timing

Landscape Hazards

Long term integrity of airport and sealift area.

Undertake sediment coring to determine and characterize the risk of subsidence in various parts of the community including the airport and sea-lift areas.

Survey of all buildings in the community to determine the extent of foundation damage.

Take ice rich ground conditions into consideration for development.

Repair and build new trails.

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

GN-Housing Corp Private Owners

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Restrict building in eroding areas.

Medium

3-4 yrs

GN-CGS Hamlet Hamlet to apply for funding GN-EDT to fund GN-Dep’t of Sust. Dev., Parks (note complementary recommendations in the Draft Management Plan for the Coppermine River) Community to participate Hamlet

Move buildings from hazard areas to stable ground.

Replace or repair failing building foundations.

Survey existing vulnerabilities with updated NRCan shoreline information.

Medium

3-4 yrs

Owners (private and government)

Medium

3-4 yrs

Owners (private and government)

High

1-2 yrs

Increase shoreline erosion protection with additional gabion baskets.

Evaluate the projected coastal change in terms of the susceptibility of built structures and in terms of the utilization by community members.

Restrict building in eroding areas.

Medium

3-4 yrs

Medium

3-4 yrs

NRCan GN Hamlet Community members Hamlet to identify GN-ED&T and CGS to fund and implement NRCan

Medium

3-4 yrs

Hamlet with input from GN-EDT and CGS

Develop shoreline remediation or

Low

4+ yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Safety of buildings and infrastructure in areas with ice rich ground conditions.

Coastal Erosion

Reduced summer ice cover, and reductions in shorefast ice leads to increased wave fetch and potential shore stability issues.

Steep shore profile along northern edge of community most at risk of erosion. Wave action from boats operating close to shore may accelerate erosion.

Buildings close to shoreline at risk of damage from bank collapse.

Sea-level Rise

Future use of shoreline for building may be unsafe.

Significant changes could occur along low lying areas, and storm surges could cause flooding and more frequent salt water incursion in water intake,

kugluktuk climate change adaptation plan 100726 final

Recommended Lead Role/Current Status GN-EDT Nunavut Airports

Responsibility

and

building relocation plan.

Evaluate the potential for significant changes along various shore profiles, including flooding of low-lying terrain, due to storm surges

NRCan

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Issues

Impact

Responses

Priority

Timing

Water supply

Actual and perceived integrity of drinking water supply and water treatment system.

Complete planning and engineering for water supply and treatment improvements Implement water supply and treatment improvements.

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Identify a new water source (not recommended – study done by GNCGS in 2009, therefore no change recommended).

Develop drainage plan with new storm assumptions and grading requirements and snow piling guidelines.

Better road and ditch construction techniques should be required.

N/A

N/A

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS Hamlet

High

1-2 yrs

Develop a plan to keep ditches and culverts clear of debris. Ensure ongoing repair of damaged culverts.

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS developing standards for northern subdivision design.

Hamlet - implementation Hamlet and community members

Snow drift patterns need to be taken into account during the planning process and maintenance procedures, particularly as it relates to alignment of buildings.

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS in existing community plan Hamlet and property owners to implement snow management guidelines.

Install larger and more culverts and ditches based on drainage plan.

Evaluate surface ponding of water and address with ditch grading.

Consider subsidence / erosion from stream diversion along the airport runway and future airport expansion.

Install a buried storm sewer system (not recommended due to permafrost and cost issues).

Medium

2-3 yrs

Medium

2-3 yrs

Medium

Coinciding with capital improvements N/A

GN-CGS - drainage plan and standards Hamlet - implement Hamlet to address problem areas.

GN-CGS to address in drainage plan.

Nunavut Airports

Reports of periodic saltwater intrusion and high sediment levels in drinking water

Hydrology

Increasing frequency and magnitude of rain events overloading capacity of the storm water system.

Increasing failure of storm water system and roads after storms.

Ponding contribution to permafrost thaw.

Snowdrifts may reduce refreezing of active layer, cooling of permafrost and produce additional meltwater, which will accelerate permafrost melt.

kugluktuk climate change adaptation plan 100726 final

N/A

Recommended Lead Responsibility and Role/Current Status GN-CGS (engineering, financing and project management) Hamlet (consult, approve, operate, maintain) GN-Dep’t of Sust. Dev., Parks (note complementary recommendations in the Draft Management Plan for the Coppermine River) Hamlet would need to initiate a new study.

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

Implementation Issue

Impacts

Responses

Priority

Timing

Lack of “ownership” of climate change issue at the community level.

Note: ownership relates to empowerment, leadership, reseponsibility and accountability.

Issues and potential solutions are not being acted upon.

Adoption of the CCAP by the Hamlet of Kugluktuk.

Develop a work plan for implementation of the CCAP. Create an “implementation advisory committee” to review progress and report to the Kugluktuk Hamlet.

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

Identify financial resources to support implementation.

Community Plans should be considered by GN and Hamlet when making decisions.

Develop a plan for interagency collaboration on climate change. For example, facilitate inter-community discussion on success/failure of adaptive strategies.

Climate change adaptation requirements should be emphasized in the next 5 year review of the Community Plan, or sooner if needed.

Provide a tool to review the most pressing issues with a climate change lens.

Any significant development proposal should be required to demonstrate that permafrost conditions can support the proposal prior to approval.

Require the investigation into subsurface ice content for all engineering work Evaluate foundation types and develop building standards to meet various permafrost conditions of sites.

Review 100 ft shoreline reserve to address land lost to erosion.

High

1-2 yrs

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS Hamlet

Medium

2-3 yrs

Hamlet - CCAP Implementation Advisory Committee GN-Hire a Community Collaboration Officer

Medium

2-3 yrs

GN-CGS-revise plan Hamlet-adopt and implement plan

Medium

2-3 yrs

GN-Department of Env’t

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS – develop standards Hamlet – adopt and enforce standards

High

1-2 yrs

GN-CGS - develop standards Hamlet – adopt and enforce standards

Medium

3-4 yrs

GN-CGS – develop standards Hamlet – adopt and enforce standards

Medium

2-3 yrs

GN-CGS and Hamlet (Lands Claim, Part 5, Article 14) joint review and strategy development

Many other high priority issues are facing the community (health, education, economic).

Land subsidence from permafrost degradation

Shoreline erosion

kugluktuk climate change adaptation plan 100726 final

Community leaders are focussing on more immediate, pressing issues.

Safety and integrity of buildings.

Safety and integrity of buildings.

Recommended Lead Responsibility and Role/Current Status Hamlet to adopt, other agencies to incorporate as appropriate.

Hamlet GN-Department of Env’t Hamlet; committee to include Mayor, SAO, GN (Wildlife Officers, CGS, Parks, Env’t, Public Works), INAC, HTO, KIA, School etc Hamlet SAO

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

5.

References

Living with Change: Community Exposures and Adaptations in Kugluktuk, NU Prepared By: Jason Prno Department of Geography, University of Guelph, September 2007.

Where the River Meets the Sea: Geology and landforms of the Lower Coppermine River valley and Kugluktuk, Nunavut. L.A. Dredge, 2001. Geological Survey of Canada, Miscellaneous Report 69, 76 pp.

Geotechnical and Hydrological Evaluation, Proposed Residential Subdivisions, Coppermine, N.W.T. by Thurber Consultants Ltd., Hydrocon Engineering (Continental) Ltd. September 1985 Coppermine River Nomination Document – Canadian Heritage Rivers System, Submitted by: Government of Nunavut, Parks and Tourism Division, Department of Sustainable Development, 2002 Draft Management Plan for the Coppermine River – Canadian Heritage Rivers System, Nunavut Parks and Special Places. Government of Nunavut, 2008 True North - Adapting Infrastructure to Climate Change in Northern Canada, National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, 2009.

Subdivision Design and Standards Manual, March 2010. Community Planning and Lands Division, Community and Government Services, Government of Nunavut.

6.

Resources

Adapting to Climate Change: An Introduction http://www.adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/municipalities

for

Canadian

Municipalities.

Available

at

Managing the Risks of Climate Change: A Guide for Arctic and Northern Communities. Volume 1 and 2.

Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, 2010. Available at http://ccrm.cier.ca Websites: www.ainc-inac.gc.ca www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca www.climatechangenorth.ca www.arcticvoice.com www.planningforclimatechange.ca http://nsccn.ca/network.html http://www.climate.weatheroffice.gc.ca/climatedata http://yukon.cccsn.ca/ensemblescenarios

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Kugluktuk Climate Change Adaptation Plan

7.

Appendices

A. Trip Summary Reports B. Student Interviews C. Presentations D. Consultation Posters E. Samples of materials produced: bookmarks, meeting posters, handouts F. Kugluktuk maps and Community Plan G. Science Reports from NRCan 1. A Reconnaissance Assessment of Landscape Hazards and Potential Impacts of Future Climate Change in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. I. Rod Smith 2009 Natural Resources Canada 2. Sea-level Projections for Five Pilot Communities of the Canada-Nunavut Climate Change Partnership. Thomas S. James et al. 2009 Natural Resources Canada H. Project Photos

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

UTILIDOR REPLACEMENT IN INUVIK, NWT Ken Johnson, AECOM

ABSTRACT The Town of Inuvik is Canada’s largest community north of the Arctic Circle, and has a unique history as the first completely "engineered" northern community. According to some, there has never been a Canadian town so “pondered, proposed, projected, planned, prepared and plotted” as East-3, which was its original site identification back in the 1950’s. The notable aspects of Inuvik’s townsite that continue to challenge engineers include long, very cold winters, permafrost, and great distance from sources of supply.

The built environment of Inuvik must cope with the permafrost, and the extreme cold for buildings, water, sewer, roads and drainage; each of these elements requires unique design and construction considerations.

The water and sewer mains that service each building are aligned along the back of each lot; the cost of these services is about $50,000 per lot or about $5,000 per metre. The service connections exit above ground from each building and resemble a large “metal centipede” as they connect to the water and sewer mains. Much of the water and sewer infrastructure is now almost 50 years old, and is at the end of its design life. A program to replace the water and sewer has been ongoing for the past 15 years, and will continue for many years into the future.

BACKGROUND The Town of Inuvik is Canada’s largest community north of the Arctic Circle, (68° 22' N latitude, and 133° 44' W longitude) and has a unique history as the first completely "engineered" northern community. According to some, there has never been a Canadian town so “pondered, proposed, projected, planned, prepared and plotted” as East-3, which was its original site identification back in the 1950’s. Inuvik was planned and engineered by the Canadian government in the late 1950’s to replace the flood-prone Aklavik, 50 kilometres to the west, as the region’s administrative centre. Canadian Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker dedicated Inuvik as "The first community north of the Arctic Circle built to provide the facilities of a southern Canadian town. It was designed not only as a base for development and administration, but as a centre to bring education, medical care and new opportunity to the people of the western Arctic."

The site for Inuvik was chosen for its elevation above the Mackenzie River flood zone, abundant gravel deposits, ample space for an airport, freshwater lakes and navigable waters. The community sits on a broad terrace between the East Channel of the

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

Mackenzie River, and the upland that forms the present-day Mackenzie Delta’s eastern boundary. The Mackenzie Delta is the largest delta in Canada; it is 210 kilometres long and an average width of 62 kilometres, occupying 13,000 square kilometres.

The July mean high and low temperatures in Inuvik are 19.7°C and 8.2°C. The January mean high and low temperatures are -26.1°C and -35.7°C. The average yearly temperature is -9.6°C. The total yearly precipitation average is 276 mm with 110 mm of this occurring as rainfall.

Inuvik originally developed with a reasonably compact and efficient downtown business core just east of the East Channel. Primary and secondary schools were located on large blocks of land between the downtown core and surrounding residential areas. A large regional hospital was sited at the south end of the townsite. The residential areas radiate outward from the central core area, and there is a considerable amount of undeveloped space between the current margins of developed residential districts and the perimeter collector road. Inuvik acts as its own developer of serviced land for townsite expansion, undertaking both financing and administrative work itself in order to supply serviced lots at the lowest cost reasonably achievable.

Inuvik grew steadily in the period of 1961 to 1986, from 1,200 people to 3,570 people.

The population increased significantly in the mid-seventies along with the gas and oil exploration at the time. When the exploration activity declined in the late seventies, the population also declined a bit from about 3,100 people to 2,900 people. In the period of 1986 to 2004, the population of Inuvik dipped to around 3,400, with minor fluctuations until returning to the 1986 population of near 3,600.

Figure 1: Original Metal Box Utilidor System in Inuvik

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

The original water and sewer servicing scheme used an above ground metal “box” or “utilidor” which housed water, sewer and a high temperature hot water heating system.

The utilidor was supported on timber piles.

THE ENGINEERING AND DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES The notable aspects of Inuvik’s townsite that continue to challenge engineers include long, very cold winters, permafrost, and great distance from sources of supply. Inuvik depends on southern sources for materials of all sorts, with the exception of drinking water. The built environment of Inuvik must cope with the permafrost, and the extreme cold for buildings, water, sewer, roads and drainage; each of these elements requires unique design and construction considerations.

The problem with permafrost is that it never completely melts, however in the summer the top metre or “active layer” may melt with the warm temperatures. The permafrost ground below Inuvik also “ice rich”, which means that when it melts, the ground may settle by hundreds of millimetres to fill the voids left by the melting ice. This magnitude of settlement can cause major structural damage to buildings and pipes. The heat from houses and water and sewer pipes may also melt permafrost, therefore all of the buildings and pipes in Inuvik are built on piles to provide a “thermal break” between the building and the ground.

The water and sewer mains, and power poles that service each building run along the back of each of the development sites. In most cases the utilidor is positioned in a dedicated right-of-way, but in some cases no right-of-way exists. The cost of these services is about $50,000 per lot.

The service connections exit above ground from each building, and resemble a large “metal centipede” as they connect to the water and sewer mains. Road crossings of the utilidor create another challenge because the road must literally bridge the utilidor, at a cost of nearly $50,000.

Inuvik’s methods of development access and site preparation have also adapted to the extreme conditions. Roads are built above the natural grade, with embankments thick enough to provide an insulating layer to minimize permafrost melting. Road grades and building lots are never excavated for pre-grading purposes, to avoid the effects of continuing thaw settlement, which can continue for several years in the developed or disturbed areas. Building lots are often filled, to provide grading for drainage, and a drivable access to construction vehicles, as well as to reduce thaw settlement. Drainage runs on the surface, in ditches, except where it passes through culverts under roads.

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

Figure 2: Modern Utilidor System in Inuvik The utilidor creates unique development and planning challenges because it is above ground. The minimum floor level in a building must be high enough to drain by gravity to the sewer utilidor. Road crossings of the utilidor create unique humps in the streets.

“Open” back yards are not very common in Inuvik because the utilidor service connections usually fill a portion of the yard.

UTILIDOR DESIGN Inuvik’s ground is thaw sensitive (warm) permafrost, which means that the temperature of the permafrost is only a few degrees below zero, therefore small variations in the ground temperature caused by excavation will cause the permafrost to melt. In addition, the ground is also "ice rich", which means there are significant pockets of ice that may thaw causing significant slumping in the ground.

The thaw sensitive soil is the primary reason for the above ground utilidor system. The first generation of the utilidor was built with timber piles. It was expected that the timber piles would last indefinitely because of the cold air and ground conditions. However, timber will eventually deteriorate if exposed to warm temperatures even for brief periods

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

of time in the north. Steel piles have been used for the past 20 years to replace the deteriorating timber pipes.

Figure 3: Pipe Support for Modern Utilidor System in Inuvik Piles support the utilidor, and thermal stability is maximized by placing the piles to a minimum of 6 metres into the ground. The piles are coated with heavy grease and wrapped with polyethylene to maintain a non-bonding surface between the ground and the pile for inevitable shifting of the ground. The piles are backfilled with a sand slurry which helps the bottom section of the pile freeze into the existing permafrost regime.

The pipe used for the sewer and water system of the utilidor is an insulated steel pipe with a metal jacket covering the insulation. For the steel pile utilidor, the water and sewer pipes are structural beams which carry the gravity loads of water, cement mortar lining, the pipes themselves insulation, jacket, fittings and snow and ice. A standard space of 7 metres has been chosen as a reasonable balance between pile capacity, beam capacity and pile frequency. The pipes are specified Schedule 80 (12 mm wall thickness) to provide corrosion resistance, in addition to the cement mortar lining.

In addition to the thermal concerns in the vertical direction, thermal movement is also a concern in the horizontal direction. With an operating temperature range from minus 50°C to plus 30°C expansion, and contraction and expansion of the pipe is significant.

The thermal considerations for horizontal pipe movement include either a bend, or an expansion joint every 25 to 30 metres along the pipe. Each pipe support at the piles is a roller system to accommodate the horizontal movements. The movement of the pipe is also controlled with line anchors every 60 to 80 metres.

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

The ultimate objective of the utilidor system is to provide water and sewer connections to individual buildings. To accomplish this, a service box is attached to the utilidor near each building, and water and sewer services run into the box and ultimately into the building through a common carrier pipe. The service box provides easy access to the service connection or "utilidette", and also provides a common space where heat from the system may provide additional freeze protection. The common carrier pipe for the water and sewer services accomplishes the same freeze protection objective.

Figure 4: Water and Sewer Service Connection to Utilidor System A similar configuration is used for hydrant servicing along the utilidor with hydrant boxes placed at intervals along the utilidor. The hydrant boxes are painted red for easy identification.

UTILIDOR CONSTRUCTION Initial site work for the utilidor projects for both extension of the system or replacement of the system includes: clearing and brushing of the utilidor alignment, temporary removal and replacement of private installations (replacement only), excavation to the subgrade of the utilidor, preparation work pad and drainage related work.

The minimum width of clear working area needed for a utilidor project is about 5 to 6 metres. About 4 metres is needed along one side of the pipe centerline for vehicle movement as well as the utilidor installation.

Where the pre-existing ground is to be graded down by more than 250 mm, the standard practice is to sub-excavate by a further 200 mm, and install 100 mm of rigid close cell insulation and bring the ground elevation back up to grade. The width of the insulated area depends on the grading cross-section but typically would be at least 4 m.

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

The potential thaw of permafrost is always an issue with any excavation, but it is less of a problem in the built up areas of the community. The excavation in built up areas is not likely to cause any significant lowering of the permafrost table and the accompanying ground subsidence because the thermally protective organic cover material was removed long ago and the permafrost has established a new equilibrium. However, deeper excavation has the potential to cause subsidence problems even in built up areas.

The utilidor system (water and sewer mains, pile system, service connections, hydrants, etc.) have historically cost about $50,000 per lot or about $5,000 per metre. This compares to a buried “utilidor” system, such as the one in Iqaluit, Nunavut, which costs about $1,500 per metre. These costs were based upon a local contractor in Inuvik with a long standing success at capturing utilidor work. This contractor retired several years ago and the most recent costs for the utilidor (2010 construction season) are $7,500 per metre.

Figure 5: Temporary Sewer Service for Utilidor Replacement Some of the individual cost components are: Piles Water main Sewer main Hydrant box Expansion joint

$3,000 each $1,000 per metre $1,000 per metre $6,000 each $7,000 each

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WCW Conference & Trade Show  Calgary  September 21 – 24  2010

Figure 6: Completed Pile Construction for Utilidor and Marking of Sewer Invert CONTINUING UTILIDOR CONSTRUCTION Utilidor replacement in Inuvik is a continuing project which ultimately depends upon the available capital funding. It is a very specialized system, and the only similar infrastructure occurs in Norman Wells, NWT, which is serviced in a portion of the community by an above ground utilidor. The complete replacement of the original utilidor system in Inuvik may take decades to complete, with a price tag of over a hundred million dollars.

70

INUVIK

FIFTY YEARS OF ENGINEERING FOR PIPES, PERMAFROST & PEOPLE OF INUVIK, NWT

The Town of Inuvik – water is supplied during the summer from Hidden Lake (right side of photo).

Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2008, the Town of Inuvik is Canada's largest community north of the Arctic Circle, and has a unique history as the first completely "engineered" northern community. According to some, there has never been a Canadian town so “pondered, proposed, projected, planned, prepared and plotted” as East-3, which was its original site identification back in the 1950’s. Inuvik was planned and engineered by the Canadian government in the late 1950's to replace the flood-prone Aklavik as the region's administrative centre. Canadian Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker dedicated Inuvik as, "The first 8

community north of the Arctic Circle built to provide the facilities of a southern Canadian town. It was designed not only as a base for development and administration, but as a centre to bring education, medical care and new opportunity to the people of the western Arctic."

The site for Inuvik was chosen for its elevation above the Mackenzie River flood zone, abundant gravel deposits, ample space for an airport, freshwater lakes and navigable waters. The community sits on a broad terrace between the East Channel of the Mackenzie River and the upland that forms the present-day Mackenzie Delta's eastern boundary.

Inuvik's long, very cold winters, permafrost, and great distance from sources of supply continue to challenge engi-

New utilidor construction in Inuvik.

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2008 71

By Ken Johnson, MCIP, P.Eng., Senior Planner and Engineer, Earth Tech Canada neers. Inuvik depends on southern sources for supplies and materials of all sorts, with the exception of drinking water. The built environment of Inuvik must contend with the permafrost and the extreme cold for buildings, water, sewer, roads and drainage; each of these elements requires unique design and construction considerations.

The permafrost ground below Inuvik is “ice rich”, which means that when it partially melts, the ground may settle by hundreds of millimetres as it fills the voids left by the melting ice. This magnitude of settlement can cause major structural damage to buildings and pipes. The heat from houses, and water and sewer pipes may also melt permafrost, therefore all of the buildings and pipes in Inuvik are built on piles to provide a “thermal break” between the building and the ground.

The water and sewer mains, referred to

collectively as the “utilidor”, run along a dedicated right-of-way along the back of each lot along with the power poles that service each building; the cost of installing these services is over $50,000 per lot. The service connections exit above ground from each building and resemble a large “metal centipede” as they connect to the water and sewer mains. Road crossings of the utilidor create another challenge because the road must literally bridge the utilidor, at a cost of nearly $50,000.

Inuvik’s utilidor was originally constructed in one single enclosed conduit supported on wood piles; the utilidor originally included a dedicated pipe carrying high temperature hot water for buildings and freeze protection of the water and sewer mains. The high temperature hot water system was eventually taken out of service, and the utilidor

INUVIK structure has been undergoing incremental replacement.

Inuvik's methods of development access and site preparation have also adapted to the extreme conditions.

Roads are built above the natural grade, with embankments thick enough to provide an insulating layer to minimize permafrost melting. Road grades and building lots are never excavated for pre-grading purposes to avoid the effects of continuing thaw settlement, which can continue for several years in the developed or disturbed areas. Building lots are often filled to provide grading for drainage and a drivable access for construction vehicles, as well as to reduce thaw settlement.

Drainage runs in ditches on the surface, except where it passes through culverts under roads.

Inuvik originally developed with a reasonably compact and efficient downtown

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2008

9 72

INUVIK

Left – Construction of original Inuvik utilidor in the 1950’s (photo by Jack Grainge). Right – Some segments of the original utilidor are still visible.

business core just east of the East Channel. Primary and secondary schools were located on large blocks of land between the downtown core and surrounding residential areas. A large regional hospital was sited at the south end of the townsite. The residential areas radiate outward from the central core area, and there is a considerable amount of undeveloped space between the current margins of developed residential dis-

tricts and the perimeter collector road.

The Town of Inuvik continues to antici-

New residential housing in Inuvik has

pate the economic growth associated

taken on a southern look, but the occa-

with the proposed Mackenzie Gas

sional new house maintains a very north-

Pipeline. The pipeline may open another

ern flair. Inuvik acts as its own develop-

chapter for the community, and will pres-

er of serviced land for townsite expan-

ent some very interesting challenges for

sion, undertaking both financing and

engineers, not only on the pipeline itself,

administrative work itself in order to sup-

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74

GRISE FIORD

WATER SUPPLY CHALLENGES IN GRISE FIORD, NUNAVUT Grise Fiord is Canada’s most northern community at 76° 25’ 08” North latitude, a mere 1500 kilometres from the North Pole.

Grise Fiord must be differentiated from the weather stations and stations further north such as Eureka and Alert because it is the permanent home to 140 Canadians.

Community infrastructure is tough to maintain at this latitude, and it was made

“tougher” in spring of 2008, when residents of the community were forced to use icebergs as their potable water supply as they dealt with a severe water shortage.

Grise Fiord must replenish its water supply during a brief 3 week window in the summer when glacier melt flows sufficiently to fill several large tanks with capacity enough to supply the communi-

Location of water tanks and season water supply in Grise Fiord. ty for 12 months. The tanks must then be heated at considerable expense for almost 12 months. Coupled with a population base that is too small to absorb the same base infrastructure costs borne in other communities, Grise Fiord has some of the highest water costs in the country with a rate of approximately 4.5 cents per litre.

The cost of water in Ottawa is approximately 0.1 cents per litre – water in Grise Fiord is about 45 times more expensive than Ottawa.

36

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2008 75

GRISE FIORD

Harvesting ice blocks from iceberg using a loader.

This water shortage has happened to

the Hamlet’s 5.9 million-litre reservoir was

the community before in 1997, and 2000.

being depleted faster than usual. The sec-

In 1997 the Hamlet placed residents on

ond tank stood empty because the river

half-rations of water in a bid to stretch

froze at the end of the summer in 1996,

dwindling supplies into midsummer.

before it could be filled.

Conservation efforts began in April after

Up to the late 1970’s iceberg ice was the

community’s sole water supply from late September through June. At a community meeting in 1975 the community council was asked what water supply improvements they would like to see. The council replied, through an interpreter, that they would like some more of a certain tool that they had found in the school that they found to be ideal for harvesting chunks of ice off icebergs. Unfortunately the tool had been lost and they had no name for the device. After much discussion is was determined that the tool was a fire axe - the engineering consultant at the time, who was doing a water supply study, sent them two fire axes.

Thirty years later, the community was once again reverting to this “old technology” for an interim potable water supply.

The community would normally have the two huge water tanks filled with glacial

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Hauling ice blocks to community 6 kilometres away.

GRISE FIORD

Loaders were used to break blocks from the iceberg and haul them into the community, where four people chipped them into smaller pieces and put them into the tanks.

It was estimated that the essential endeavour would cost about $60,000.

runoff to last them for 12 months from the

Grise Fiord officials issued an advisory

tank filling in June of each year. Un-

urging residents to conserve water, while

fortunately maintenance work and a lack

a six-kilometre ice road was built to the

of rain in the summer of 2007 left the

Hamlet's new water source — a massive

tanks under-filled.

iceberg. Loaders were used to break

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Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2008 77

GRISE FIORD should the problem recur. Climate change may become a factor in their situation, which they never foresaw a few years ago when we built these tanks. As well, the community may have to look for another source of water from other than the glacial runoff.

It is interesting to note that for some of the residents, iceberg water is the preferred source of potable water, particularly for making tea because of the absence of chemicals. Each autumn as the ocean freezes, icebergs become trapped in pack-ice three or four kilometres from the Breaking up ice blocks by hand to place in the water tank.

Hamlet. Blocks of fresh-water ice may be hacked away with an axe or chisel, and

blocks from the iceberg and haul them into the community, where four people chipped them into smaller pieces and put them into the tanks. It was estimated that

the essential endeavour would cost about $60,000.

The lack of water has also prompted residents to wonder what would happen

carried back to the settlement in qamutiks (sleds), towed behind snowmobiles.

One qamutik-load equals about 410 litres of water.

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2008

39 78

DAWSON CITY

WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS SERVING DAWSON CITY, YUKON Introduction Dawson City, Yukon Territory is a community of approximately 1,500 people, located in the mid-western section of the Territory, in an area of discontinuous permafrost. The Town’s water and sewer services are provided by a buried and insulated high density polyethylene pipe (HDPE) utility system, which was completed around 1980. The water and sewer infrastructure is reasonably complex in both its construction and operation; the operation alone requires a dedicated staff of 5 individuals.

The date of construction of the first compoFIGURE 1: Installing stave wood pipe in nents of the Dawson City water and sewer sysDawson City circa 1972.

FIGURE 2: tem is not known precisely, however, it has Junction of Klondike and Yukon Rivers. been recorded that Dawson had a water and original well is situated in a sewer system in operation as early as 1904. A wooden building, and is description of the system operation in 1911 states generally used only as an that “only three or four houses in Dawson were emergency back up supply. equipped with year-round running water. To preThe water storage comvent their freezing in winter, the water pipes had ponents are two insulated to be linked to parallel pipes of live steam which steel reservoirs beside the must be kept constantly hot. In addition, the water treatment and distriwater must be kept moving through the pipes bution building (See Figure continually, and thence through an insulated outlet all the way to the 3). The two reservoirs have a combined storage of approximate 1,300 cubic metres (290,000 Imperial gallons), which provides storage for river.” The original pipe installations were wood stave construction, drinking water supply and fire protection. The water treatment and and this piping continued to be used until the 1970’s (See Figure 1). distribution is housed in a building which contains various chemical, Beyond the piping systems in Dawson City, there are 12 facilities heating, pumping, electrical, and piping systems for water treatment, that are an integral part of the infrastructure. The facilities handle freeze protection for the system, and water distribution. The water approximately 850,000 cubic metres (190 million Imperial gallons) treatment process uses each of water and sewage in a year (2005 estimate). controlled chlorine gas injection into the water Dawson Water System prior to distribution into Dawson City’s water system facilities include of the water source, the buried water system. the water storage, and the water treatment and distribution. The Freeze protection for water source is a series of three wells located along the river bank, the water system is neednear the junction of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers (See Figure 2), ed during the winter; the drilled to depths of approximately 22 metres (70 feet). One original water in the pipes cools well was installed in 1959, and three additional wells were installed as it flows through the in 1991 to provide additional capacity. The newer wells are situated distribution piping, therein concrete access vaults with an adjacent well control building. The FIGURE 3: Dawson City water storage.

8

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2007 79

By Norm Carlson, Superintendent of Public Works, Dawson City, YT & Ken Johnson, Senior Engineer and Planner, Earth Tech Canada, Edmonton, AB

fore additional heat is required to prevent the water in the pipes from freezing. The water is also recirculated by pumping to confirm the water temperature in the pipe, and provide additional freeze protection.

On-line hydrants are also a feature of this type of recirculating system (See Figure 4).

The water distribution system itself includes 16 kilometres (10 miles) of insulated, buried HDPE water main. The distribution system includes approximately 700 service connections to buildings, 85 hydrants and a valve chamber building for controlling the flow of water.

Dawson Sewage System Dawson City’s sewage system facilities includes five lift stations, and the sewage treatment plant. The sewage collection system has 16 kilometres (10 miles) of insu-

DAWSON CITY

FIGURE 4: On-line hydrant in Dawson City.

lated, buried sanitary sewer, and approximately 3.5 kilometres (2 miles) of buried forcemain from the lift stations. The sewage lift stations are submersible pumping systems in wetwells, with control buildings either on top of or adjacent to the wet wells.

Four of the lift stations may be considered “small” facilities, and the remaining facility may be considered a medium sized facility.

Four of the lift stations collect sewage from the developments on the Klondike Highway, which is the access road into Dawson City.

The sewage treatment employs a primary screening operation using two 0.75 millimetre mesh rotostrainers housed in a multi level building (See Figure 5). The sewage discharges into the Yukon River, mid-channel 200 metres (650 feet) west of the perimeter dyke that surrounds the community.

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9 80

DAWSON CITY

FIGURE 5: Dawson City primary sewage treatment.

Challenges of Dawson City Water and Sewage System Subsoil conditions in Dawson City typically consist of a surface layer of common road fill 0.6 to 0.9 metres in thickness, underlain by organics, organic silts, and silts to a depth of 3 to 5 metres. This layer of silt and organic silt has an ice content varying from zero to greater than 50 percent excess ice content. Beneath this layer of organic silt, a layer of alluvial gravels has been deposited by the Yukon River; these gravels are relatively dense and thaw stable.

This area is in the widespread discontinuous permafrost zone, with ground temperatures in the range of -1.5 C, which is considered to be “warm” permafrost. Since the permafrost temperature is just below freezing, the permafrost may thaw or degrade very easily from disturbances such as the installation of underground utilities. Problems with respect to water and sewer systems in these soil conditions have caused ground subsidence due to thaw of the ice rich permafrost, and seasonal frost heave of buried foundations and utility pipes. In a two year period in the mid 1980’s, over 225 metres of polyethylene sewer pipe failed by ovalling or collapsing due to the permafrost conditions.

The problems due to frost action in the soils were compounded in the

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Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2007 81

FIGURE 6: Insulated HDPE pipe with corrugated metal pipe cover in Dawson City.

DAWSON CITY Dawson City continues to incrementally address the challenges of operating and maintaining water and sewer facilities in the heart of the Klondike.

vicinity of hydrants, vertical risers, and service connections because a vertical restraint is imposed on the piping system. At service connection locations there were numerous examples of service risers causing a local collapse of the main because of the vertical load on the horizontal sewer main.

Adjacent to hydrants and valves, pipe failures occurred at fusion weld joints because of bending or torque along the connecting pipe.

The unique soil conditions in Dawson City have required the development of unique water and sewer piping materials and installation techniques. Several studies in the late 1980’s compared pipe and bedding configurations, and developed the corrugated metal cover on insulated HDPE piping that is the pipe standard for Dawson City today (See Figures 6). The installation of the pipe requires consideration of the permafrost conditions to ensure that the area around the excavation is not significantly disturbed, particularly in areas where the permafrost has a lot of ice lensing.

Future Water and Sewer Improvements Dawson City continues to incrementally address the challenges of operating and maintaining water and sewer facilities in the heart of Klondike. Bleeder reduction has been a priority over the past several years, and water metering has been implemented to reduce water usage down in the range of 500 litres/capita/day from winter extremes of 1500 litres/capita/day. A comprehensive water and sewer facility assess-

ment was completed in 2006, which has provided Dawson with the framework for system improvements over the next 20 years. The most significant initiative has

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11 82

ALERT

CANADIAN FORCES STATION ALERT:

INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AT CANADA’S FROZEN EDGE Sign post at CFS Alert.

6

1950’s as a weather station, and was followed by the establishment of a Canadian military station in 1958.

From early April to early September the sun never sets on Alert, and from early

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he start of the engines of the Hercules aircraft creates a vibration and noise that becomes very familiar over the day and a half of travel north to reach Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert, at the northern tip of Ellesmere Island. Not until landing in Alert does one come to realize that the only thing that lies between Alert and Santa’s home is 800 kilometres of permanent ice pack. Edmonton, Alberta, the closest major Canadian city, is 3,500 kilometres to the south, while Stockholm, Sweden is a mere 3,200 km away.

CFS Alert is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement on the globe, situated at 82 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude, and 62 degrees, 19 minutes west longitude. Alert was first settled in the early

T

October to early March the other extreme occurs, and there is no direct sunlight.

During the summer months Alert experiences 28 frost-free days on average, and an average daily high temperature of 10 degrees Celsius. The record high temperature for the station is 20 degrees Celsius, while the record low is -50 degrees Celsius.

The terrain in the vicinity of CFS Alert is rugged with undulating hills. The ocean pack ice remains close to shore during the short summer, and is continuous from shore to horizon in winter. The permafrost at the station thaws only to a maximum of one metre during the course of the summer.

Transportation in and out of Alert relies solely upon aircraft, and in particular, the C130 Hercules. Alert has one regularly scheduled flight each week from Canadian Forces Base Trenton, which is 4000 kilometres to the south. The Herc is an amazingly

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by Ken Johnson, MCIP, P.Eng. Senior Engineer and Planner, Earth Tech Canada Edmonton, AB

ALERT

Canadian Forces Station Alert – view from airport.

Water and sewer pipe storage area.

Characterization of abandoned barrels.

transportation workhorse that not only airlifts the weekly supply of perishable essentials for the station, but also airlifts for the entire wet (fuel) and dry (all other materials) resupply for the station. This includes the building materials for the extensive water and sewer infrastructure that serves the station. The resupply is completed during the fall of each year, which requires round trip flights from the Thule Airbase 600 kilometres to the south in Greenland.

Transportation around the station makes use of a variety of wheeled and tracked vehicles, on a limited length of roads. The most significant roads provide access to the water supply, 4 kilometres from the base, and the

From early April to early September the sun never sets on Alert, and from early October to early March the other extreme occurs, and there is no direct sunlight. atmospheric observatory operated by Environment Canada. Vehicles are kept running 24 hours per day during the winter months in order to minimize vehicle freezing problems, and wheel blocks are used instead of emergency brakes .

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An evolution in the station transportation has been the conversion to a common fuel (JP8) for all engines on the station, including the power supply generators. This simple change in operations has greatly improved the waste management practices for the station by accommodating bulk fuel supply for the majority of the base operations and reducing the need for fuel supplied in barrels.

CFS Alert, like many northern facilities, has suffered from the accumulation of thousands of fuel supply barrels over its operat-

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2006

7 84

ALERT Water and sewer piping network around buildings.

Potable water for the station is pumped four kilometres from Dumbbell Lake in an above ground insulated high density polyethylene water line...

Raw water supply line and recirculation line from Dumbbell Lake.

ing life. The use of barrels presents problems for resupply, organization on site, and management of old barrels, many of which are partially full and poorly marked. The transition to a common bulk fuel on the station has reduced the resupply and organiza-

Waste management creates its own set of unique challenges for the CFS Alert. tion problems, and a program to catalogue and appropriately dispose of the old barrels and their contents has reduced the problem of managing old barrels.

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Potable water for the station is pumped four kilometres from Dumbbell Lake in an above ground insulated high density polyethylene water line with a smaller recirculating water line. The three water intake points in Dumbbell Lake are positioned well below the thick ice which forms on the lake. The water is chlorinated and stored in two 50,000 gallon storage tanks in the water building, and the water is distributed above ground throughout the station with an independent piped recirculating system. A labyrinth of above ground piping circulates between buildings throughout the entire station.

Waste management creates its own set of unique challenges for the CFS Alert. The station is served with an insulated high density polyethylene gravity sewer which dis-

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TERMINAL CITY IRONWORKS (ACS) INC. #3 - 9494 198TH STREET, LANGLEY, BC V1M 3C8 E-MAIL: don@terminalcity-acs.com Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2006 85

Sewage discharge into natural lagoon near CFS Alert.

ALERT Solid waste bundled for deposit in incinerator.

Incinerator at CFB Alert.

charges into a natural lagoon open to the ocean. The solid waste management program for the station has a segregation program to employ either recycling for transportation south, or incineration at the station. A landfill is still utilized for the incineration residuals.

Communication is another critical aspect of the station’s operation and survival. Since global communication satellites are too far below the horizon at Alert, a six station ground based microwave system must be used to relay the communication signals to a latitude where satellite uplink is possible.

Eureka, a station 400 km to the south of Alert, plays this critical role as a communications centre for the high arctic. Eureka is also known for its abundance of wildlife, including arctic wolves that are bold enough to stand up to a Twin Otter aircraft.

Canadian Forces may occasionally joke that is the Russians who justify the presence at Canada’s frozen edge; however this threat has significantly decreased since the end of the Cold War. The Canadian military at CFS Alert, in addition to their communications

research, are in fact asserting Canadian sovereignty to the world’s most northerly inhabited place.

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IQALUIT

WATER TREATMENT IMPROVEMENTS IN IQALUIT, NUNAVUT

A

major upgrade was completed to the water treatment plant serving the City of Iqaluit, Nunavut in 2004. The project required design and construction work on a 40-year old water treatment facility.

Iqaluit is located at the south end of Baffin Island, on Frobisher Bay at 64O 31’N latitude and 68O 31’W longitude.

Iqaluit is also located within the continuous permafrost zone, therefore the buildings are usually constructed on steel pile systems that extend well into the permafrost. Water and sewer services are provided by either shallow buried, insulated piping, or by tanker trucks.

Construction in Iqaluit requires the typical level of preparation for most northern locations. The delivery of construction materials is dependent upon a relatively short period between the end of July and the end of October, when cargo ships have access through the seasonal ice pack for the annual sealift. The flurry of the sealift activity is matched by a flurry of construction activity to take advantage of the short construction season to complete excavations and exterior construction on buildings.

Exterior building improvements to Iqaluit water treatment plant.

and the neighbouring power plant. The design incorporated the upgrading to keep the plant within this existing footprint, while increasing the production capacity of the facility eight-fold.

The new design also changed the treatment process Construction of new filtration system.

from conventional treatment to direct filtration, and UV disinfection was incorporated to achieve pathogen inactivation without making additional modifications to the clear well. Process changes in response to the water quality and capacity issues were: UV disinfection system.

One of the major challenges of this project was the space restriction of the site. It would have been very difficult, and hence expensive, to expand outside the plant’s existing footprint because of the surrounding steep bedrock terrain, 22

Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2005 87

by Ken Johnson, MCIP, P.Eng. Senior Planner and Engineer, Earth Tech, Edmonton

1. Increasing the capacity of the plant by constructing four new filters, extending the existing building structure but remaining within the existing footprint to house them, and installing new backwash pumps. Converting the existing sedimentation tanks into grit

removal and flocculation units.

2. Providing additional backwash waste storage.

3. Providing facilities for dosing alum (or other coagulant) upstream of the flocculation chamber. Installing coagulant mixing facilities.

4. Providing powdered activated

IQALUIT

carbon dosing facilities, if required.

Design to allow for future inclusion into process train.

5. Replacing the existing lime handling system with a caustic soda system.

6. Providing a PLC-based control system and desktop computer to automate certain plant functions and provide data logging capability.

7. Designing systems to potentially accommodate a future change in water source as the capacity of Lake Geraldine will not meet future demands.

Beyond the new process design, the work had to incorporate provisions to maintain the operability, and treated water quality of the existing plant during construction.

A 20 year horizon was assumed

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IQALUIT for the design, and the population projections estimated 11,300 persons, and a 400 litres per capita per day usage in 2021. The estimated total cost, including engineering and contingencies for the water treatment plant upgrade was approximately $4.5 million, and the project was completed within the City’s budget.

It was anticipated that a temporary water treatment plant would be needed during construction because the old facility would be off line to permit the required modifications. Rather than importing a temporary plant to service the entire City, the UV disinfection system was incorporated as both a temporary and permanent component of the process. Fortunately, the high quality of the raw water permitted treatment of the water temporarily using only UV disinfection and chlorination. The installation of some temporary minor piping and controls allowed the contractor almost unlimited access to the plant for the upgrades.

In order to reduce construction costs, decrease the potential for delays due to shipping, and be environmentally conscientious, as much of the existing

plant as possible was reused for the upgrade. The upgrading included the addition of four new filters along with a filter gallery, and these filters were placed on the existing concrete structure forming the roof of the exterior clear water well.

The very limited window for transportation to Iqaluit demands that materials be manifested through Montreal on one of the cargo ships on the annual sealift. Any equipment or materials that do not meet this schedule must be transported by air, which increases costs dramatically.

The relatively remote location not only makes the mobilization of equipment and materials challenging, but also the supply of trades people. Qualified local resources are limited, and importing trades people is very expensive.

The water treatment plant was successfully commissioned in May 2004, with flow being redirected through the new filters and clear well for the first time. The efforts and “forward thinking” approach of the engineering design team, the City of Iqaluit staff, and the contractors have produced a water treatment plant to serve the residents of Iqaluit for 20 years and beyond. !"

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Journal of the Northern Territories Water & Waste Association 2005 89

90

Extreme Northern Water Treatment Engineering Prepared by Ken Johnson, M.A.Sc., P.Eng. Revised 2005 06 08 Thinking outside the “box” or in the case of the Canadian north, outside the “ice cube” requires design and construction innovation for water treatment plants. The challenges of working in the Canadian north extend well beyond remembering to add 10, to 20 degrees of latitude beyond the 49th parallel for a project location. Extreme cold, very limited access, extraordinary costs, and scant resources are a few of the “routine” challenges that northern designers and project managers have become familiar with in designing for high latitudes.

The geographical vocabulary of the northern designers includes Tsiigehtchic, Iqaluit, Sachs Harbour, Tulita, and Nahanni Butte, just to name a few. The process technical vocabulary associated with this geography includes nanofiltration, cartridge filtration, and UV disinfection. The final ingredients to complete this mix are the northern technology vocabulary which includes permafrost, freeze protection, and sealift . Making the technologies fit the geography is quite often more of an art than an applied science for northern designers.

A site visit for a project near the 49th parallel will likely take a day or two and cost “hundreds” of dollars; a site visit for Sachs Harbour at 72 degrees north latitude is a weeklong adventure worth well over $3000 in airfare and accommodation.

The maps of the north that lead one to the conclusion that the North has an abundance of water don’t present the entire picture. Raw water supplies may be abundant, but may be located at a great distant from communities, and may only be “accessible” for a period of time that may be counted, in some cases, in weeks. Distance presents a problem because of cost for roads and pipelines, and operation and maintenance to keep the roads and pipelines operating. At nearly $1 million (Canadian) per kilometre for a road and a pipeline in some locations, the economics places distant piped water sources beyond the reach of most communities. Add to this cost the potential for pipeline freezing, and the severe operating conditions for blizzards, and closer becomes a lot better.

Northern water engineers have pioneered many raw water supply systems using techniques and materials that provide economics needed for small systems, and the methods for operation in cross cultural situations. A raw water supply must also be stored by some means that minimizes the metres thick ice that makes many water sources inaccessible during the long winter months. Northern water engineers have designed many raw reservoir systems that vary from rock blasted holes to earth bermed mounds.

Pristine water is an asset that northern communities do not necessarily benefit from.

Although most northern water sources are more pristine that southern water sources, the risks from pathogenic organisms are still prevalent, and public health regulators demand the appropriate water treatment. Northern water engineers have pioneered the northern

91

application of water treatment technologies, including conventional filtration, microfiltration and nanofiltration. This frontier engineering has included the building structures, the mechanical systems and the control systems that protect, and maintain the treatment processes in some of the most remote communities in North America.

Once a community has potable water, its use is limited until it is delivered to each and every residence. To complete this enormous task most, communities rely on water trucks that are replenished by truckfill stations. These truckfill facilities are more than just a tank, and a pipe with a valve because they must operate under conditions of extreme cold, darkness, and isolation. These facilities must also function under a variety of operating conditions that may include very high water flows for firefighting situations. Several of the larger northern Canadian communities have the luxury of piped water systems, which apply another unique set of design criteria for extreme cold, darkness and isolation.

Northern water treatment projects are very seldom “packaged” for immediate operation once they are delivered the site. Site work varies from “scratch” to minimal site work for modular systems. Even minimal site work requires a colossal effort to provide the design and construction documentation for contracting resources that are seldom resident to the site, and contract monitoring where a simple inspection can take a week and cost over $5000 (Canadian).

Communication techniques, trained and experienced resources, in addition to a well centred attitude are the key ingredients that northern clients need in association with construction monitoring skills. Whether it is a conventional water treatment upgrade in the relatively large community of Iqaluit (6000 people) on Baffin Island, or a nanofiltration system in the community of Tsiigehtchic (200 people) near the Mackenzie Delta, northern water engineers must respond to the project demands.

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WATER TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR REMOVAL OF GIARDIA LAMBLIA IN CARCROSS, YUKON TERRITORY K.R. Johnson Project Engineer, Arctic Engineering Division, UMA Engineering Ltd., 17007 - 107 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T5S 1G3 ABSTRACT Carcross, Yukon Territory is a community of approximately 250 people, located 74 kilometres south of Whitehorse. In 1989 the Yukon Territorial Government proposed the use of a nearby lake as a new drinking water source. This new source would replace the existing groundwater source, which was producing water with elevated levels of nitrate, nitrite, and arsenic.

UMA Engineering Ltd. completed the preliminary engineering study for a new surface water intake system in 1989. The new surface water intake system was constructed in the winter of 1990. Subsequent to this study, an investigation undertaken by the University of Calgary in 1990 concluded that surface water supply systems in the Yukon are vulnerable to contamination from Giardia lamblia cysts.

Based upon the concerns over this potential contamination, UMA complete a report on water treatment options for G. lamblia removal. This report investigated the options of slow sand filtration, rapid sand filtration, multi-media filtration, precoat filtration, and cartridge filtration.

The report compared performance, capital costs, and operation and maintenance costs for the 5 options.

The report concluded that a slow sand filter system, or a cartridge filter system would be the most simple and inexpensive options for the community with respect to cost. However, based upon the performance data available on the two options for removal of G. lamblia cysts, the report recommenced the implementation of a slow sand filtration system. The report also recommended disinfection and sufficient contact time be utilized in conjunction with a slow sand filter to maximize the reduction of G. lamblia cysts.

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RÉSUMÉ Choix de traitement pour l'enlèvement de Giardia lamblia dans l'eau potable de la municipalité de Carcross, Territoire du Yukon.

K.R. Johnson, Ingénieur de project, division du Génie Arctique, UMA Engineering Ltd., 17007 - 107 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta, T5S 1G3 La communauté de Carcross compte environ 250 personnes et est localisée à quelques 75 kilomètres au sud de Whitehorse, au Yukon. En 1989, le Gouvernement du Territoire du Yukon proposa d'utiliser comme nouvelle source d'approvisionnement en eau potable un lac situé à proximité. Cette nouvelle source devait remplacer les eaux souterraines utilisées jusqu'à présent; ces dernières contenaient des niveaux élevés de nitrates, de nitrites et d'arsenic.

UMA Engineering Ltd. compléta, en 1989, l'éude préliminaire de l'ingéniéie du nouveau système d'ápprovisionnement en eau. Le système fut construit en 1990. Peu après, une étude menée par l'Université de Calgary (en 1990) conclut que les systèmes s'approvisionnant en eaux de surface au Yukon étaient vulnérables à la contamination par les kystes de G. lamblia.

En réaction à cette possibilité de contamination, UMA prépara un rapport portant sur les différentes options de traitement permettant l'enlèvement de G. lamblia. On y examine plusieurs alternatives de traitement: filtration lente sur sable, filtration rapide sur sable, filtraton multicouche, filtration avec précouche, et filtration en cartouche. Pour les cinq options, la performance et les coûts de capitalisation, d'opération et de maintenance sort comparés.

Le rapport conclut que la filtration lente sur sable et la filtratoin en cartouche sont les deux choix les plus simples et les moins coûteux pour la communauté. Cependant, à cause de son efficacité d'enlèvement des dystes de G. lamblia, on recommande l'implantation d'un système de filtration lente sur sable. Le rapport indique également que cette filtration devrait être suivie d'une désinfection avec un temps de contact suffisant, si on veut maximiser la réduction des kystes de G. lamblia.

INTRODUCTION

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Background Carcross is an unincorporated community with a population of approximately 254 people (1989), located 74 kilometres south of Whitehorse, Yukon. The community is situated on both the north and south shores of the narrows which join two lakes.

The primary source of drinking water to households was a community well, which worked in conjunction with a trucked delivery system. Unfortunately, the well water source has been subject to increasing contamination from high concentrations of nitrate and nitrite. This was apparently caused by the subsurface sewage disposal systems in the community. In addition, high arsenic levels were found in the community well and a number of individual wells. An activated alumina treatment system was installed in 1986 to reduce the arsenic levels in the community well water, and households were instructed to discontinue use of individual wells.

In 1989, in response to this increased water supply contamination, the Yukon Territorial Government proposed the use of one of the lakes as a new drinking water source. A preliminary report by UMA Engineering Ltd. (Carcross Water and Wastewater Predesign Report, 1989) recommended the construction of a submerged intake system in one of the lakes. The new surface water supply system was constructed during the winter of 1990.

In November 1990, the Yukon Territorial Government requested that UMA Engineering Ltd. undertake a study on alternative treatment options for removal of Giardia lamblia from the new surface water supply system. This study was in response to a report prepared by the University of Calgary (Roach et al, 1990) which stated that Yukon communities which utilize surface water supplies are vulnerable to contamination of their water supplies with G. lamblia cysts.

Giardia lamblia Giardia lamblia has been recognized as the cause of the most commonly identified water intestinal disease in North America, referred to as giardiasis (Lin, 1985). Giardiasis is not fatal, but can be extremely uncomfortable; the symptoms include diarrhea, weakness, fatigue, dehydration, and weight loss. Giardia lamblia may exist in either a parasite form and cyst form, depending upon the conditions; in an unfavourable environment the parasite will form a cyst.

The transmission of giardiasis may occur by ingestion of the cysts in contaminated drinking water and foods. It is believed that wild and domestic animals such as beaver, rats, rabbits and dogs may play an important role in the transmissions of giardiasis to humans (Lin, 1985).

The treatment technology for cyst destruction or removal includes disinfection and filtration.

Disinfection practices for cyst destruction require special attention because standard methods may not be adequate in destroying cysts. Water treatment by slow sand filtration, rapid sand filtration (with proper coagulation), and precoat filtration may be used to remove cysts.

However, disinfection and filtration should both form part of a treatment process for cyst reduction to provide a dual barrier for treatment.

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Objectives of Study The objectives of the study water treatment options for the removal of Giardia lamblia in the community of Carcross were:   

Identify treatment options which may provide protection to the community water supply from contamination by Giardia lamblia and other pathogenic organisms.

Identify advantages and disadvantages for each treatment option in its application in the community.

Identify relative capital, operation and maintenance costs for each treatment option.

DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TRUCKED WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM

Design Flow An average day trucked water design consumption of 120 L/c/d was identified in the Carcross Water and Wastewater Predesign Report (UMA, 1989). Based upon a design population of 362 projected for the year 2001 (3 percent annual growth for a 10 year horizon), the design flow would be 43,500 litres per day, or 0.50 L/s (1.81 m3/hour) based upon continuous operation of the facility.

The current trucked water delivery system operates eight hours per day, three days per week, therefore without any balancing water storage the design flow of the treatment system would have to conform to this schedule. Given the scenario where the design flow for a given week would be delivered during three 8 hour periods during the week, the treatment facility should have a capacity of 3.52 L/s.

Balancing Water Storage Balancing capacity in the form of treated water storage will reduce the design flow required for the filtration system by a factor of 7 (3.52 L/s to 0.50 L/s). If 120 cubic metres of treated water storage is available, the filtration system may supply the trucked water demand operating continuously at 0.50 L/s (43.5 m3/day). Balancing water storage is also a desirable requirement for the trucked water delivery system to provide contact time for disinfection, meet the flow requirements to efficiently operate a trucked water delivery system and optimize the operation of a filtration facility.

FILTRATION ALTERNATIVES FOR GIARDIA LAMBLIA REMOVAL Slow Sand Filtration Slow sand filters are a biologically active sand system, which accommodate enhanced removal of particulate material with the low hydraulic loading rate, and the development of a biological slime. It is ideal for small communities, where the filter structure itself may form part of earthen basins or concrete basins.

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A slow sand filter requires relatively little attention for operation and maintenance. Periodic cleaning is necessary when the headloss raises the water level beyond the headloss allowance of the filter chamber. The cleaning is completed by removing several centimetres of sand from the top of the filter.

Finch et al (1985) commented that studies on the performance of slow sand filters in removing G. lamblia cysts reported removal in excess of 98% (1.7 log reduction) under a variety of operating conditions. Bellamy et al (1985) reported removal exceeding 98% for a variety of conditions as well as an average 4.2 log reduction (>99.99% removal) for an established biological system in the sand.

The simple operation of a slow sand filter along with the potentially high reduction of G. lamblia are the major advantages for application of this option in Carcross. The major disadvantage is the relatively large surface area for the filter constructed with an earthen basin, however area restrictions in Carcross necessitate the use of concrete basins.

Rapid Sand Filtration Rapid sand filtration systems generally utilize slightly coarser granular media than slow sand filters, and operate at hydraulic loading rates much greater than slow sand filters. The higher hydraulic loading rate of a rapid sand filter necessitates backwashing of filters on a regular basis, and consequently the filter structure includes a wash water trough and a wash water tank.

The recommended operation of a rapid sand filter usually includes pretreatment in the form of coagulation, flocculation and sedimentation. This greatly improves the operating efficiency of the filter by removing larger suspended material prior to filtration.

Finch et al (1985) commented that studies on the performance of rapid sand filters in removing G. lamblia cysts reported removal in excess of 99.98 percent (3.7 log reduction). These removals were based on the use of coagulation and sedimentation as a means of pretreatment. A study by Al-Ani and Hendricks (1983) reported an average reduction of 99.56% in G. lamblia (2.4 log reduction) for a rapid sand filter.

The most effective application of filtration technology in the community of Carcross would be the installation of a package water treatment plant. This package treatment unit has advantages with respect to construction costs, particularly for such a small unit. The major disadvantage of rapid sand filtration is the relative complexity to operate such a system, Multi-Media Filtration Multi-media filters are similar to rapid sand filters except that they utilize two or more types of filter material or varying sizes and densities. Multi-media filters may consist of anthracite coal and sand, or anthracite coal, sand and garnet. The configuration of multi-media filtration system is very similar to the rapid sand filtration system.

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The use of material with different sizes and densities accommodates grading of the filter material from coarse material on the surface to fine material at the base. This arrangement permits higher loading rates and longer filter runs than with a rapid sand filter, which in turn may lead to more economical filter operation. The operation and maintenance for a multi-media filter is essentially identical to the rapid sand filter.

Finch et al (1985) reported that studies of multi-media filtratoin produced consistently better results than for rapid sand filtration based upon removal of particles (greater than 99 percent removal of particles). The study by Al-Ani and Hendricks (1983) reported an average reduction of 99.15% in G. lamblia (2.1 log reduction) for a multi-media filter. Bryck (1983) noted an average reduction of 97% (1.5 log reduction) of particles in the 5 to 15 micron range for a pilot scale operation of a multi-media filtration system.

Precoat Filtration Precoat filters are a single media filter which utilize a thin layer of extremely fine granular material (diatomaceous earth or man-made material) positioned on a permeable support. The very fine filter media (0.05 mm to 0.001 mm) is responsible for a high quality effluent, however the media is sensitive to turbid water. This sensitivity is overcome to some extent with the continuous feed of filter media (body feed) to the system.

The operating cycle for a precoat normally involves deposit of the precoat material on the permeable support to form a filter cake. The filter operates continuously until either the head losses across the filter become too great or the filter cake begins to slough. The contaminated precoat is then completely washed from the support system and the operating cycle begins again.

The operation of a precoat filtration system is possibility the most technically demanding of the granular media filtration systems. Lawrence (1991) stated that diatomaceous earth filters must be operated near perfect during every start-up cycle in order to guarantee a properly functioning precoat layer.

Finch et al (1985) reported that studies on the removal of G. lamblia by precoat filtration produced 99.8 percent (2.7 log reduction) or greater removal of cysts, or cyst sized particles.

Earlier studies reported 99.99 percent (4 log) removals by precoat filtration on particles similar to G. lamblia cysts. Bryck (1983) noted a 99% reduction (2 log reduction) of particles in the 5 to 15 micron range for a pilot scale operation of a diatomaceous earth filter.

The operating requirement is the major disadvantage to a precoat filtration system for the community of Carcross even though the system may achieve very good levels of G. lamblia cyst removal.

Cartridge Filtration Cartridge filters are a fibre media filter which utilize a bonded fibre mat mounted plastic cartridge (0.6 m2 per cartridge), and configured in units of cartridge clusters. The bonded fibre mat may consist of resin bonded cellulose, glass or acrylic fibres.

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A cartridge filter system may remove particles to a nominal 0.35 micron size depending upon the specified cartridge. The filter cartridge clusters are generally housed in stainless steel structures which are designed for easy replacement of the cartridges.

Pretreatment of the "raw" water for the cartridge filters by granular media filtration may be necessary to permit reasonable operating life of the filter cartridges. A granular media filter system may minimize filter "blinding" from the suspended material in the raw water. Regular replacement of cartridge filters is necessary, but this is dependent upon the water quality of the effluent leaving the granular media filter.

Although cartridge filters utilize a completely different media from granular filters, they may provide a comparable reduction of G. lamblia. A study by Applied Consumer Services Inc. (1991) reported a 99.2% removal of G. lamblia cysts (2.1 log reduction) utilizing a 0.35 micron nominally rated filter. However, the data on cartridge filters is very limited, therefore, the performance of this type of system is questionable.

COST ESTIMATES The capital cost estimates prepared for the various water filtration options are based upon preliminary information compiled in-house and from various supplier sources (see Table 1). For the purpose of comparison the cost estimates were prepared on similar scenarios for all of the options. The treatment scenarios were sized on a 1 L/s treatment capacity because of the minimum capacity available for the package treatment units. The treatment scenarios also include 120 m3 of above ground balancing storage ($85,000), a heated building to house the treatment units, and a 30 percent engineering and contingency allowance.

TABLE 1 CAPITAL COSTS FOR FILTRATION OPTIONS (1991 DOLLARS) Option Capital Cost Slow Sand Filtration $354,000 Rapid Sand or Multi-Media Filtration $527,000 Precoat Filtration $463,000 Cartridge Filtration $317,000 The operation and maintenance costs include a part time plant operator (hourly basis), an energy allowance, media replacement, and treatment chemicals (where required). (See Table 2.) The operator attention for the various treatment systems included 2 hour per day for slow sand filtration; 2 hours per day for rapid sand and multi-media filtration; 3 hours per day for precoat filtration; and 1 hour per day for cartridge filtration.

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TABLE 2 ANNUAL OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE COSTS FOR FILTRATION OPTIONS (1991 DOLLARS) Option Capital Cost Slow Sand Filtration $13,500 Rapid Sand or Multi-Media Filtration $31,900 Precoat Filtration $47,600 Cartridge Filtration $20,500 DISCUSSION The potential reduction of G. lamblia cysts for the various filtration options may exceed a 2 log reduction for all of the options, based on the information in the literature. Slow sand filtration and precoat filtration appear to have the highest potential for Giardia reduction, which may exceed a 4 log reduction. The literature on the performance of cartridge filters for G. lamblia cyst removal is very limited, therefore this system may not perform as well as the granular media systems.

A comparison of the capital costs of the various systems versus the reduction of Giardia lamblia suggests that multi-media filtration, rapid sand filtration and precoat filtration are not the most cost effective means of filtration. Slow sand filtration and cartridge filtration appear to be the most cost effective means of reducing Giardia lamblia. Slow sand filtration becomes even more cost effective when the operating costs are also considered.

CONCLUSIONS All of the filtration systems discussed in this report, in conjunction with adequate disinfection and contact time will minimize the potential for drinking water contamination from Giardia lamblia, as well as other pathogenic organisms.

Based upon the capital costs identified for each system, a slow sand filter or the cartridge filter appear to be the most inexpensive options to serve the trucked water delivery demands of the community of Carcross for a 10 year horizon. However, based on the current literature available, the cartridge filter system may not perform as well as a slow sand filter.

A slow sand filter offers the simplest operating system, as well as lowest potential for operating difficulties. Based upon the operating costs for each system, a slow sand filter appears to be the most inexpensive option to operate and maintain. Treated water balancing storage, as previously described, is an integral part of the system to provide contact time for disinfection, meet the flow requirements to efficiently operate the trucked water delivery system, and optimize the operation of a filtration facility.

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RECOMMENDATIONS A slow sand filtration system with a capacity of 1.0 L/s along with 120 m3 of treated water storage is recommended to supply the trucked water delivery demands for the Community of Carcross for a ten year horizon. The recommendation is based upon consideration of capital cost, operating cost, ease of operation, and potential reduction of Giardia lamblia.

The slow sand filter system in conjunction with disinfection and sufficient contact time will minimize the potential for drinking water contamination from Giardia lamblia and other pathogenic organisms.

REFERENCES Al-Ani, M., and Hendricks, D.W., Rapid Sand Filtration of Giardia Cysts. Fall Seminar B.C. Water and Waste Associate, November 1983.

Applied Consumer Services Inc., Summary of Contaminant Removal Test Results obtained with Harmses Water Filter H1F7, January 1991.

Bellamy, W.D., Silverman, G.P., Hendricks, D.W., and Logsdon, G.S. Removal of Giardia Cysts with Slow Sand Filtration. Journal American Water Works Association, February 1985.

Bryck, J., Village of 100 Mile House Pilot Program for Selection of Treatment Process to Ensure Removal of Giardia lamblia. Fall Seminar B.C. Water and Waste Association, November 1983.

Finch, G.R., Given, P.W., and Smith, D.W. A Technology Review of Particle Removal by Water Filtration. Prepared for Alberta Environment, Municipal Engineering Branch, Standards and Approval Division. August 1985.

Lawrence, W., General Filtration Division of Lee/Chemical, Toronto, Ontario. Information Regarding Precoat Filtration, March 1991.

Lin, S.D., Giardia lamblia and Water Supply. Journal American Water Works Association, February 1985.

Roach, P.D., Wasslis, P.M. Olson, M.E., Evaluation of Zoonotic and Waterborne Giardiasis in the Yukon, University of Calgary, November 1990.

UMA Engineering Ltd., Carcross Water and Wastewater Predesign Final Report, September 1989.

UMA Engineering Ltd., Village of Carcross, Yukon Territory - Report on Water Treatment Options for Removal of Giardia lamblia, April 1991.

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