A half-century of dirty water is in the past for Cape Breton’s smallest Mi’kmaw community, but the fear and distrust remain, keeping some residents from drinking the water.

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POTLOTEK – A half-century of dirty water is in the past for Cape Breton’s smallest Mi’kmaw community, but the fear and distrust remain, keeping some residents from drinking the water.

“I know a lot of people still don’t trust it – they’re still scared of it, and I don’t blame them. It’s been since 1972, 1974 that we’ve had ongoing problems with the water,” said long-time Potlotek chief, Wilbert Marshall.

A new, state-of-the-art water treatment facility was built in 2019 aimed at eliminating the issues with excess iron and magnesium in the water supply.

“There’s a big difference,” Marshall said.

“It’s safe now, it’s safe to drink – I drink it.”

Read more Compensation available to Cape Breton community after decades of dirty water Potlotek residents grateful for new tap water system

Compensation available to Cape Breton community after decades of dirty water

Potlotek residents grateful for new tap water system

Potlotek’s old filtration system was not equipped to handle the high levels of iron and manganese that would periodically show up in Indian Lake, the community’s water source, causing discoloured water ranging from yellow to black.

“Our issues happened usually twice a year. It would stain your clothes – nobody could have anything white in the community, it stained absolutely everything,” said Crystal Nicholas, CEO of Potlotek, who has lived in the community since she was seven.

She said, until two years ago, the water issues had affected residents for as long as she can remember.

“Not being able to bathe their babies in the water, complaints of skin irritation issues – it was all the time. It was frustrating for people.”

It took community members, including the chief, sharing photos of the water coming out of their taps to finally grab the attention of the public and the federal government, who, in 2016, pledged to solve the water crisis by replacing the water treatment system.

After more than a year of working with engineers and Indigenous Services Canada to find an alternative water source for the community, they determined the lake was the most sustainable source and turned to looking for a treatment method that would deal with the iron and manganese issues.

The new facility uses a dissolved air flotation system, the same process used to treat the community water supplies in New Waterford and Louisbourg. It works by using a chemical process and compressed air to float unwanted matter to the surface, where it is skimmed off. 99 per cent of the solids found in the lake water is removed in this stage of the process.

The water is then further clarified by passing through a very fine filter and chlorine is added to remove the iron and manganese before it is pumped to the water tower. In the summer, when there is naturally an increase of organisms growing in the lake, an additional filter that uses activated charcoal is used to remove any taste or odour in the water and a UV treatment destroys any remaining bacteria.

Nicholas said Health Canada tests the water weekly, and the two water operators employed at the treatment plant run manual tests multiple times a day. The system itself has built-in testing throughout the process to ensure water quality and efficient functioning of the system from treatment facility to water tower and then out into the community.

“Our system now monitors our water in ways that we were never able to monitor it before, so we’re watching the trends and understanding a lot more than we did before,” Nicholas said.

Jim Wall, an operator with the federal government’s Circuit Rider Training program, said the water coming from the taps in Potlotek exceeds the national guidelines for drinking water quality.

One measure of water quality is turbidity, meaning the particulate matter – organic or inorganic materials, algae, and microscopic organisms – that are usually invisible to the naked eye but can cause water to appear murky or cloudy.

The national guideline for maximum turbidity is 0.3 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) in Canada and the United States and 4 NTU in Europe. In Potlotek, the water is measuring at 0.072 NTU.

“As a water operator, we play little games with ourselves – yesterday we reached a certain quality marker, so how can we do better today, and tomorrow – continuous improvement,” said Wall, who works with water and wastewater facilities in a handful of Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and has been in the industry for over 30 years.

Alex Marshall, one of two full-time water operators in Potlotek, has had the job for 22 years and said the difference between the old system and the new one is “like night and day.”

“It’s totally different and a lot more hands-on. It keeps you busy,” he said with a laugh.

Another difference is in the feedback from the community.

“They appreciate the water more – no more black water in our tubs, our toilets. Nobody’s complaining – our phones aren’t ringing off the hook with people calling about dirty water. It’s a lot nicer,” he said.

In addition to the $7-million treatment facility, the community also got a new water tower that, unlike the old one that Nicholas said had sprung leaks by the time it was replaced, has a generator to supply water to the community when the power goes out.

Nicholas said Potlotek is in the process of consulting with the community to join the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, of which Marshall serves as the board chair. The organization is working with the federal government to take over responsibility for water and wastewater in its member communities and was allocated $170 million over 10 years in the recent budget.

Marshall said belonging to the water authority would give them access to experts in the industry and training opportunities for their water operators. Nicholas said it would also give them stable funding, allowing them to do long-term planning.

She said she is proud of the water in her community, and of her chief and council for fighting for the new system. Her plans to hold a community open house at the facility have been stalled by COVID-19, but she said she is hoping to welcome the community’s residents to see the system for themselves in the near future.

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