Forming an Unusual Partnership
CHALLENGE: Middle River, a small and remote community in the Tl’azt’en Nation, was faced with serious drinking water challenges that prolonged a a 14-year boil water advisory. The village, with population variances of five to 40+ people, utilizes a traditional water source of a nearby river. Since 1998, efforts have been underway to identify and implement a water treatment system appropriate for the community and robust enough to treat high organics, turbidity and bacteriological matter. The challenge was heightened by the remote location of the community, a historical lack of communication and engagement with local residents, power and connectivity challenges and minimal operator resources. In the last two decades, there had been efforts to address the issues; at one point ground water was considered as a source, but the well was clogged to protest reports it contained a low amount of arsenic. Also, a sophisticated treatment plant was installed but it proved to be too complicated for local operators to run, so it was quickly decommissioned.
SOLUTION: The community leadership, the operator and residents partnered with the water industry to investigate viable solutions. The participants conducted a thorough pilot study of various treatment options. In particular, an innovative biological ion exchange was tested, a new technology that had not been commercially available for treating drinking water. The project team developed a unique partnership with experts from universities, engineering firms, a manufacturer, health authorities and the funding agency to validate the viability of the solution. The long-lasting BWA was lifted in 2018. The project received several awards, including the most prestigious award in the consulting engineering industry.
KEY CONSIDER ATIONS: The project team brought together experts who worked to identify and develop a solution that was beyond the mandate of their respective organizations, and foreign to their own context.
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