Studying Best Practices, Together
CHALLENGE: Van Anda Improvement District (VAID) is a community of 500 people living on the Texada Island in BC. The community has been struggling to provide potable water to their residents, resulting in posting several water advisories over the past decade. BWAs are posted frequently during the summer months because coliforms are regularly detected in water samples from the community’s distribution system.
The community has gone back and forth between pet solutions advocated for by various vendors.
SOLUTION: The community decided to explore viable practices together. The participants created opportunity to pilot several treatment options and examine pros and cons so the community could decide for themselves which options to invest in. Hard work from the community’s leadership in investigating pragmatic solutions was rewarded with a grant from the provincial government.
KEY CONSIDER ATIONS: Through organizing an open house, the entire community was made aware of how their needs are being handled, and what design principles are being followed. VAID’s Board of Trustees were able to address questions like what works, why and how? There was constructive dialogue among the partners focusing on the community’s needs and requirements, rather than arguments.
Van Anda Improvement District on Texada Island, BC, faced frequent water advisories due to coliform contamination. The community explored various treatment options, piloted them, and secured a provincial grant. An open house helped address community concerns and ensured a collaborative approach.
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Mobile Research Labs
Our advanced mobile labs promote design thinking by creating opportunities for a deeper understanding of the needs and interests of the community, operators, and other stakeholders, including government and regulatory bodies.
Water Health Equity
One in six Canadians, including the majority of 1.6 million Indigenous people, live in rural areas and often face exposure to negative health and socio-economic impacts from unsafe drinking water. It’s a persistent crisis that has dragged on for decades, a dubious achievement for a rich nation often celebrated as a global humanitarian and human rights leader.
Treading Water
To tackle water advisories in Indigenous communities, we created "Treading Water," a 20-minute play with UBC's research-based theatre experts. The play highlights the experiences of water operators and communities, aiming to spark dialogue on water quality issues.
