Chemical and microbial characteristics of municipal drinking water supply systems in the Canadian Arctic

Drinking water in the vast Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut is sourced from surface water lakes or rivers and transferred to man-made or natural reservoirs. The raw water is at a minimum treated by chlorination and distributed to customers either by trucks delivering to a water storage tank insi...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 25; no. 33; pp. 32926 - 32937
Main Authors:	Daley, Kiley, Truelstrup Hansen, Lisbeth, Jamieson, Rob C., Hayward, Jenny L., Piorkowski, Greg S., Krkosek, Wendy, Gagnon, Graham A., Castleden, Heather, MacNeil, Kristen, Poltarowicz, Joanna, Corriveau, Emmalina, Jackson, Amy, Lywood, Justine, Huang, Yannan
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-11-2018
Subjects:	Aquatic Pollution Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution Chlorine - analysis Disinfection - methods Drinking Water - analysis Drinking Water - chemistry Drinking Water - microbiology Earth and Environmental Science Ecotoxicology Environment Environmental Chemistry Environmental Health Escherichia coli - isolation & purification Family Characteristics Fresh Water - analysis Fresh Water - chemistry Fresh Water - microbiology Halogenation Humans Nunavut pollution and health in the Arctic Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods sanitation Waste Water Technology Water Water Management Water Microbiology Water Pollution Control Water Purification - methods Water Quality Water Supply - standards Nunavut Drinking water Chlorination Microbial pathogens Metals Arctic communities Surface water Lead Escherichia coli
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Drinking water in the vast Arctic Canadian territory of Nunavut is sourced from surface water lakes or rivers and transferred to man-made or natural reservoirs. The raw water is at a minimum treated by chlorination and distributed to customers either by trucks delivering to a water storage tank inside buildings or through a piped distribution system. The objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and microbial drinking water quality from source to tap in three hamlets (Coral Harbour, Pond Inlet and Pangnirtung—each has a population of <2000) on trucked service, and in Iqaluit (population ~6700), which uses a combination of trucked and piped water conveyance. Generally, the source and drinking water was of satisfactory microbial quality, containing Escherichia coli levels of <1 MPN/100 mL with a few exceptions, and selected pathogenic bacteria and parasites were below detection limits using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods. Tap water in households receiving trucked water contained less than the recommended 0.2 mg/L of free chlorine, while piped drinking water in Iqaluit complied with Health Canada guidelines for residual chlorine (i.e. >0.2 mg/L free chlorine). Some buildings in the four communities contained manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and/or lead (Pb) concentrations above Health Canada guideline values for the aesthetic (Mn, Cu and Fe) and health (Pb) objectives. Corrosion of components of the drinking water distribution system (household storage tanks, premise plumbing) could be contributing to Pb, Cu and Fe levels, as the source water in three of the four communities had low alkalinity. The results point to the need for robust disinfection, which may include secondary disinfection or point-of-use disinfection, to prevent microbial risks in drinking water tanks in buildings and ultimately at the tap.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0944-1344 1614-7499
DOI:	10.1007/s11356-017-9423-5