TAKING CONTROL
First Nations are advancing new water treatment options
By Brittany Boschman, Ethan Butterfield, Morgan Esperance, Theresa Kliem and Kehinde Olalafe
Faced with ongoing boil water alerts, some First Nations in Saskatchewan have begun taking back control over water resources. In the process, they’ve set in motion new treatment processes and technologies that could help resolve water issues across the country.
When Yellow Quill First Nation’s drinking water was declared untreatable, band officials reached out to the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, a Canadian non-governmental organization that at the time was focused on water problems in developing countries.
The foundation’s lead scientist, Hans Peterson, worked with Yellow Quill members from 2002 to 2004 to create the Integrated Biological and Reverse Osmosis Membrane, which uses naturally occurring bacteria to clean the water.
The system went on to help lift more than 20 reported boil water advisories in Saskatchewan.
Water operator Bill Marion works with bio-filters at James Smith Cree Nation. “When push comes to shove, it’s a beautiful system. The cost to operate is very low compared to the conventional treatment,” he says.
IBROM is an alternative to greensand filters that rely on manganese oxide, potassium permanganate and chlorine, sometimes in high doses where the water is particularly murky. Chlorine mixed with organic elements creates trihalomethanes (TMHs), linked the increased risk of bladder and colon cancer, as well as an increased risk of miscarriages in pregnant women.
However, a study published by University of Manitoba researchers in 2020 found the IBROM filter less effective at removing organics than a well-maintained and monitored greensand filter.
Nonetheless, operators we contacted reported positive results with the system. “It’s good stuff – it’s as good as it gets,” says Marion.
David Swift is a contract relief operator at Thunderchild First Nation. Thunderchild had its two plants upgraded in 2011, and are now using a Degremont biological filter.
“I love biological plants. I think they have a very minimal environmental footprint. I think they’re the way of the future,” he says.
Swift says he previously worked at a nearby municipal plant where “they use 10 times the chlorine … than we do here.”
He added, “So, our wastewater has very, very little chlorine in it. So, you’re not dumping a lot of stuff into the sewer system and then back out into the lake, that’s basically like mouthwash.”
Faced with ongoing boil water alerts, some First Nations in Saskatchewan have begun taking back control over water resources. In the process, they’ve pioneered new treatment processes and technologies that could help resolve water issues across the country.
When Yellow Quill First Nation’s drinking water was declared untreatable, band officials reached out to the Safe Drinking Water Foundation, a Canadian non-governmental organization that at the time was focused on water problems in developing countries.
The foundation’s lead scientist, Hans Peterson, worked with Yellow Quill members from 2002 to 2004 to create the Integrated Biological and Reverse Osmosis Membrane, which uses naturally occurring bacteria to clean the water.
The system went on to help lift more than 20 reported boil water advisories in Saskatchewan.
Water operator Bill Marion works with bio-filters at James Smith Cree Nation. “When push comes to shove, it’s a beautiful system. The cost to operate is very low compared to the conventional treatment,” he says.
IBROM is an alternative to greensand filters that rely on manganese oxide, potassium permanganate and chlorine, sometimes in high doses where the water is particularly murky. Chlorine mixed with organic elements creates trihalomethanes (TMHs), linked the increased risk of bladder and colon cancer, as well as an increased risk of miscarriages in pregnant women.
However, a study published by University of Manitoba researchers in 2020 found the IBROM filter less effective at removing organics than a well-maintained and monitored greensand filter.
Nonetheless, operators we contacted reported positive results with the system. “It’s good stuff – it’s as good as it gets,” says Marion.
David Swift is a contract relief operator at Thunderchild First Nation. Thunderchild had its two plants upgraded in 2011, and are now using a Degremont biological filter.
“I love biological plants. I think they have a very minimal environmental footprint. I think they’re the way of the future,” he says.
Swift says he previously worked at a nearby municipal plant where “they use 10 times the chlorine … than we do here.”
He added, “So, our wastewater has very, very little chlorine in it. So, you’re not dumping a lot of stuff into the sewer system and then back out into the lake, that’s basically like mouthwash.”
In addition to being an operator at Saulteaux First Nation, which has biofiltration, Harvey Thomas is the director of technical services for other surrounding First Nations that do not. Thomas notes the hoops First Nation communities need to jump through when dealing with the government.
“If we put in a request for a new water plant, going biological, they have to assess if the community needs a biological system or still green sand filtration. And that’s where the challenge is. It could take up to three years before we’re approved,” Thomas says.
A 2016 email exchange among ISC officials sheds light on funding of biofiltration at another community, Stanley Mission. In that case, a request for biofiltration was considered a “non-standard” system that was ineligible for full funding because it “achieves treated water in excess of the current provincial guidelines.”
The email concluded, “Any system above the minimum will require cost-sharing from the band.”
Ongoing maintenance support can also be difficult to obtain once the system is in place. As well, no matter the filtration system being used, underfunding for staff salaries and training presents a challenge, according to Deon Hassler, a water system trainer and technician for the File Hills-Qu’Appelle Tribal Council. ISC doesn’t provide wage support for trainees, he noted.
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