Still a long road ahead to fix water emergency in Puvirnituq, Que.

It's been all hands on deck to try and get water to homes in Puvirnituq, Nunavik, which has seen constant water service interruptions for more than two months. 

For Nellie Iqiquq, her partner and their four kids, it's been more than three weeks of difficulty accessing water in their home. Having grown up in the community of around 2,000 people, Iqiquq knows blizzards will often knock out water service, but, she says, it's the first time that it's been this bad. 

"I cannot give my kids a bath and shower, flush the toilet or do the dishes, or clean the house and do laundry," she says. The family has also needed to buy plastic plates and cutlery, and use a bucket toilet. 

A pipe that carries untreated water to a station about 2.5 kilometres outside of the community froze following a blizzard in mid-March. Since then another blizzard has caused additional issues by blowing snow over roads and freezing other pipes in the community.

The lack of reliable water access has led to the community hospital running out of water, more people getting sick, including some in Iqiquq's family, and even hampered firefighting efforts. Over the weekend, officials declared a state of emergency.

The length of the disruption has begun to weigh on Iqiquq and her family. 

"I'm really frustrated and angry that we don't get any services and we cannot do nothing about it," she said. 

On Monday, though, there was some light at the end of the tunnel when the water truck managed a delivery. 

"It's like the million-dollar truck, we were so happy," she said. 

Everyone was able to take a shower and do a bit of laundry, but Iqiquq says they're still very diligent about using water since the wastewater system is still frozen. 

Delayed deliveries

Following the blizzards, more than four metres of snow have accumulated on certain parts of the road leading to the community's pump station. Workers have managed to clear a single lane barely wide enough for water trucks to come and go, but it's been very slow going. 

"We used to fill up our tank for 15 minutes in the closed pipe in town, but now we have to go for 45 minutes back and forth," said Aipilie Qumaluk, one of the drivers. 

To try and make as many deliveries as possible, Qumaluk and his colleagues start their shift at 6 a.m.

"Sometimes we don't even take the time to eat breakfast," he said. 

The Kativik Regional Government has sent in a public works team, led by foreman Kevin Leblanc, to try and open the road further and accelerate the deliveries. 

Leblanc said the community's roads have essentially been unusable since the blizzards and rain, some even clogged with stuck vehicles. But things are starting to turn, he added. 

"We're starting to win the battle," he said. 

Two mechanics are part of the team to ensure any trucks that break down are fixed quickly to prevent any further delays to water deliveries — as long as the parts are already in the community.

The public works crew will also be installing a temporary pipe system to try and bypass the frozen one. They hope to connect the water treatment plant and get it running again by Thursday, a first step toward a return to normal.  

Bottled water flown in

Speaking to Radio-Canada's Midi info radio program, Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit, said 60,000 litres of bottled water had been flown into the community so far. 

He added that another delivery is scheduled for this week, but acknowledged that wouldn't solve the ongoing public health issues. 

According to Lafrenière, 27 people have been moved from the community's hospital and elders' residence as a precautionary measure. 

He explained that the community had been struck by a string of bad luck, but that other communities in the region are also facing similar challenges.

"We're talking about Puvirnituq right now, but there's at least three other northern villages that are also struggling with getting water," he said. Once resolved, he said there should be a follow-up done with each community.