Abstract
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.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
APHA (American Public Health Association) (1998) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, Twentieth edn. United Book Press, Inc., Baltimore
Ashbolt NJ (2015) Microbial contamination of drinking water and human health from community water systems. Curr Environ Health Rep 2:95–106
Boulay N, Edwards M (2001) Role of temperature, chlorine, and organic matter in copper corrosion by-product release in soft water. Water Res 35(3):683–690
Cheng C-M, Lin W, Van KT, Phan L, Tran NN, Farmer D (2008) Rapid detection of Salmonella in food using real-time PCR. J Food Prot 71(12):2436–2441
Craun GF, Calderon RL (2001) Waterborne disease outbreaks caused by distribution system deficiencies. J Am Water Works Assoc 93:64–75
Daley K, Castleden H, Jamieson R, Furgal C, Ell L (2014) Municipal water quantities and health in Nunavut households: an exploratory case study in Coral Harbour, Nunavut, Canada. Int J Circumpolar Hlth 73:23843
Davies J, Mazumder A (2003) Health and environmental policy issues in Canada: the role of watershed management in sustaining clean drinking water quality at surface sources. J Environ Management 68:273–286
Deshommes E, Bannier A, Laroche L, Nour S, Prevost M (2016) Monitoring-based framework to detect and manage lead water service lines. J Am Water Works Assoc 108(11):E555–E570
Ercumen A, Gruber JS, Colford JM Jr (2014) Water distribution system deficiencies and gastrointestinal illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Environ Health Perspect 122(7):651–660
Falkinham JO, Hilborn ED, Arduino MJ, Pruden A, Edwards MA (2015) Epidemiology and ecology of opportunistic premise plumbing pathogens: Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium avium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Environ Health Perspect 123(8):749–758
Fillion M, Blais J, Yumvihoze E, Nakajima M, Workman P, Osborne G, Man Chan H (2014) Identification of environmental sources of lead exposure in Nunavut (Canada) using stable isotopes analyses. Environ Internat 71:63–73
Furness BW, Beach MJ, Roberts JM (2000) Giardiasis surveillance—United States, 1992–1997. CDC MMWR Surveill Summ 49(SS07):1–13
Goldfarb DM, Dixon B, Moldovan I, Barrowman N, Mattison K, Zentner C et al (2013) Nanolitre real-time PCR detection of bacterial, parasitic, and viral agents from patients with diarrhea in Nunavut, Canada. Int J Circumpolar Health 72:19903
Goodman KJ, Jacobson K, van Zanten SV (2008) Helicobacter pylori infection in Canadian and related Arctic Aboriginal populations. Can J Gastroenterol Hepatol 22(3):289–295
Harper S, Edge V, Shuster-Wallace C, Berke O, McEwen S (2011a) Weather, water quality and infectious gastrointestinal illness in two Inuit communities in Nunatsiavut, Canada: potential implications for climate change. EcoHealth 8:93–108
Harper SL, Edge VL, Schuster-Wallace CJ, Ar-Rushdi M, McEwen SA (2011b) Improving Aboriginal health data capture: evidence from a health registry evaluation. Epidemiol Infect 139(11):1774–1783
Harper SL, Edge VL, Ford J, Thomas MK, Pearl DL, Shirley J, IHACC Research Group, McEwen S (2015a) Acute gastrointestinal illness in two Inuit communities: burden of illness in Rigolet and Iqaluit, Canada. Epidemiol Infect 143(14):3048–3063
Harper SL, Edge VL, Ford J, Thomas MK, Pearl DL, Shirley J, IHACC, RICG, McEwen S (2015b) Healthcare use for acute gastrointestinal illness in two Inuit communities: Rigolet and Iqaluit, Canada. Int J Circumpolar Health 74:26290
Hastings EV, Yasui Y, Hanington P, Goodman KJ, CANHelp Working Group (2014) Community-driven research on environmental sources of Helicobacter pylori infection in arctic Canada. Gut Microbes 5(5):606–617
He Q, Wang JP, Osato M, Lachman LB (2002) Real-time quantitative PCR for detection of Helicobacter pylori. J Clin Microbiol 40(10):3720–3728
Health Canada (2009a) Guidance on controlling corrosion in drinking water distribution systems. Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water, Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Catalogue No. H128-1/09-595E).
Health Canada (2009b) Guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality: guideline technical document—chlorine. Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water, Ottawa, ON, Canada. (Catalogue No. H128-1/09-588E).
Health Canada (2017) Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality—Summary Table. Water and Air Quality Bureau, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
Hsu BM, Wu NM, Jang HD, Shih FC, Wan MT, Kung CM (2005) Using the flow cytometry to quantify the Giardia cysts and Cryptosporidium oocysts in water samples. Environ Monit Assess 104(1–3):155–162
Huang Y, Truelstrup Hansen L, Ragush CM, Jamieson RC (2017) Disinfection and removal of human pathogenic bacteria in arctic waste stabilization ponds. Environ Sci Pollut Res. doi:10.1007/s11356-017-8816-9
Ibekwe AM, Watt PM, Grieve CM, Sharma VK, Lyons SR (2002) Multiplex fluorogenic real-time PCR for detection and quantification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in dairy wastewater wetlands. Appl Environ Microbiol 68(10):4853–4862
Johnson K (2007). The social context of wastewater management in remote communities. Published in the proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Western Canada Water and Waste Association, October 23–26, 2007, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. www.wcwwa.ca. Accessed 8 December 2016.
Johnson K (2008) A brief history of the past 60 years of northern water and waste. Published in the proceedings of the Annual Conference of Western Canada Water and Waste Association, September 23–26, 2008, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. www.wcwwa.ca. Accessed 8 December 2016.
Jothikumar N, da Silva AJ, Moura I, Qvarnstrom Y, Hill VR (2008) Detection and differentiation of Cryptosporidium hominis and Cryptosporidium parvum by dual TaqMan assays. J Med Microbiol 57:1099–1105
Keserue HA, Fuchslin HP, Egli T (2011) Rapid detection and enumeration of Giardia lamblia cysts in water samples by immunomagnetic separation and flow cytometric analysis. Appl Environ Microbiol 77(15):5420–5427
Kot M, Gagnon G, Castleden H (2015) Water compliance challenges: how do Canadian small water systems respond? Water Policy 17:349–369
LaGier MJ, Joseph LA, Passaretti TV, Musser KA, Cirino NM (2004) A real-time multiplexed PCR assay for rapid detection and differentiation of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. Mol Cell Probes 18:275–282
Liu G, Verbeek J, Van Dijk J (2013) Bacteriology of drinking water distribution systems: an integral and multidimensional review. Appl Microbiol Biotech 97:9265–9276
Martin D, Bélanger D, Gosselin P, Brazeau J, Furgal C, Déry S (2007) Drinking water and potential threats to human health in Nunavik: adaptation strategies under climate change conditions. Arctic 60(2):195–202
McKeown I, Orr P, Macdonald S, Kabani A, Brown R, Coghlan G et al (1999) Helicobacter pylori in the Canadian arctic: seroprevalence and detection in community water samples. Am J Gastroenterol 94:1823–1829
Medeiros AS, Wood P, Wesche SD, Bakaic M, Peters JF (2017) Water security for northern peoples: review of threats to Arctic freshwater systems in Nunavut, Canada. Reg Environ Chang 17(3):635–647
Messier V, Lévesque B, Proulx JF, Rochette L, Serhir B, Couillard M, Ward BJ, Libman MD, Dewailly É, Déry S (2012) Seroprevalence of seven zoonotic infections in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. Zoonoses Public Hlth 59:107–117
Metcalfe C, Murray C, Collins L, Furgal C (2011) Water quality and human health in indigenous communities in Canada. Global Bioethics 24(1–4):91–99
Niquette P, Servais P, Savoir R (2011) Bacterial dynamics in the drinking water distribution system of Brussels. Water Res 35(3):675–682
Pardhan-Ali A, Berke O, Wilson J, Edge VL, Furgal C, Reid-Smith R et al (2012a) A spatial and temporal analysis of notifiable gastrointestinal illness in the Northwest Territories, Canada, 1991–2008. Int J Health Geogr 11:17
Pardhan-Ali A, Wilson J, Edge VL, Furgal C, Reid-Smith R, Santos M et al (2012b) A descriptive analysis of notifiable gastrointestinal illness in the Northwest Territories, Canada, 1991–2008. BMJ Open 2:e000732
Pardhan-Ali A, Wilson J, Edge VL, Furgal C, Reid-Smith R, Santos M et al (2013) Community-level risk factors for notifiable gastrointestinal illness in the Northwest Territories, Canada, 1991–2008. BMC Public Health 13:63
Remmer R (2010) Exposure on tap: drinking water as an overlooked source of lead. Environ Health Perspect 118:69–74
Rodríguez-Lázaro D, Hernández M, Scortti M, Esteve T, Vázquez-Boland JA, Pla M (2004) Quantitative detection of Listeria monocytogenes and Listeria innocua by real-time PCR: assessment of hly, iap, and lin02483 targets and AmpliFluor technology. Appl Environ Microbiol 70(3):1366–1377
Rossman LA, Clark RM, Grayman WM (1994) Modeling chlorine residuals in drinking-water distribution systems. Journal of Environ Eng 120(4):803–820
Statistics Canada (2012) Census profile. 2011 census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-XWE. Ottawa. Released October 24, 2012. Retrieved from: http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E
Trow Consulting Engineers Ltd. (2002) Water and sewer study. Technical report prepared for the City of Iqaluit. Report #MP14882A. 89 pp. Retrieved from: ftp://ftp.nwb-oen.ca/registry/3%20MUNICIPAL/3A/3AM%20-%20Municipality/3AM-IQA1626/3%20TECH/3%20WATER%20USE%20(D)/2004%20Renewal/
Verweij JJ, Blangé RA, Templeton K, Schinkel J, Brienen EAT, van Rooyen MAA, van Lieshout L, Polderman AM (2004) Simultaneous detection of Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum in fecal samples by using multiplex real-time PCR. J Clin Microbiol 42(3):1220–1223
Wang ZM, Devine HA, Zhang W, Waldroup K (2014) Using a GIS and GIS-assisted water quality model to analyze the deterministic factors for lead and copper corrosion in drinking water distribution systems. J Environ Eng ASCE 140(9):A4014004
Williams Engineering Canada Inc. (2014) Locate alternate sources of drinking water for each Nunavut hamlet. Technical report prepared for the Government of Nunavut. Report #26525. 246 pp.
Wohlsen T, Bates J, Gray B, Katouli M (2004) Evaluation of five membrane filtration methods of recovery of Cryptosporidium and Giardia isolates from water samples. Appl Environ Microbiol 70(4):2318–2322
World Health Organization (2011) Guidelines for drinking-water quality. World Health Organization, Geneva Retrieved from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44584/1/9789241548151_eng.pdf
Zietz BP, Lab J, Suchenwirth R, Dunkelberg H (2010) Lead in drinking water as a public health challenge. Environ Health Perspect 118:154–155
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Hamlets of Coral Harbour, Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet and the City of Iqaluit for assistance with this research. The staff at Nunavut Research Institute (Iqaluit) is gratefully acknowledged for their continued support. Also, we appreciate the outstanding contributions of our community research assistants: Allan Nakoolak (Coral Harbour), Abe Kublu (Pond Inlet), David Mike (Pangnirtung), Tommy Nagligniq (Iqaluit) and Ooloota Nowdlak (Iqaluit), without whom we could not have completed the sampling of building tap water. This work was supported by grants from the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan and the Government of Nunavut. The funders were not involved in the work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Daley, K., Truelstrup Hansen, L., Jamieson, R.C. et al. Chemical and microbial characteristics of municipal drinking water supply systems in the Canadian Arctic. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 32926–32937 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9423-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9423-5