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But the water plant operator for the Hearst-area band says the long-term solution is to replace the reserve‘s outdated plant. “We need a new plant, but there is no timetable for its replacement,” Michael Gillis said Wednesday from the reserve, about 50 kilometres west of Hearst just off Highway 11. The water was shut off Sunday after an unprecedented buildup of algae in Constance Lake – the reserve‘s source of drinking water – appeared to be clogging the water plant‘s filters and causing brown, cloudy water to come out of the taps. Drinking water, as well as water to fill toilet tanks, has in the meantime been trucked in from Hearst as well as a nearby hydro station. The situation has put the band under a boil-water advisory and a state of emergency has been declared. Gillis said when the plant was commissioned about 30 years ago, its filters were designed to treat raw water from underground wells – not surface water from a lake. “Emergency funding from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is needed to retain engineering services to find possible solutions to the issue immediately, and to assist in determining the best course of action to address the water issue,” Constance Lake Chief Arthur Moore said in a news release. Gillis said the band might have to hire a diver to inspect the water plant‘s intake pipe, located about 10 metres below the lake‘s surface. In his five years as the band‘s water plant operator, Gillis said he‘s never seen algae build up as thickly on the lake as it has this summer. The unusually hot weather might have something to do with it, he said. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |