Inspection reveals Iqaluit water facilities not up to code

A number of Iqaluit's water facilities are under repair, after an independent inspection found many were not meeting industry standards.

The city had to call an emergency council meeting Monday to address electrical and structural problems found during an inspection of five water facilities.

Iqaluit's mayor, Madeleine Redfern, said repairs included replacing gauges, fixing exposed wiring and removing hazardous waste.

"Those repairs are underway because they needed to be done to meet the industry standards," she said.

Council passed a motion to allow it to spend up to $150,000 to repair the water plant, the booster stations, the lift station and reheat station. 

Redfern said there was no issue with the quality of water and there would be no disruption to service.

Repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the week.

More inspections coming 

The problems were identified after city staff brought in licensed tradespeople to conduct a thorough inspection of water facilities, something the mayor said was supposed to happen regularly.

"We were told there was a process for the facilities to be inspected however, these repairs or required work for some reason were not followed through," Redfern said.

She said the city is planning to review its inspection processes as part of its strategic planning process. 

The city also plans to audit the rest of its aging infrastructure. Refern expects that will reveal more issues, noting the boilers of many of the water facilities will soon be in need of replacement. 

She plans to use the information in the audit to lobby the territory and federal governments for more funding.

"We'll actually have the documentation from an independent third party that gives us that ammunition to get the money that we need for our community," she said.