Colville Lake has been under a boil water advisory since 2004, but chief doesn’t care

has been under a boil water advisory.
The reason isn’t due to lack of access to a water treatment plant or proper training to operate it — the community doesn’t bother to send water samples to the territorial government for sampling because residents believe their water is clean enough to drink straight from the lake.
According to the territorial government’s 2016 report on drinking water, Colville Lake sent in merely two per cent of its mandated quota for water sampling in 2016.
The government requires communities outside Yellowknife send in 48 samples per year.
The requirement for the territorial capital is 228 per year.
Many elders don’t like chlorinated water But Kochon said many of the community’s elders drink straight from the lake because they don’t like to drink chlorinated water.
Colville Lake’s water treatment plant opened in 2007.
Kochon said he believes the lake water is clean, and it’s evident when the community changes the filters at the plant each month.
‘We are not too worried about contamination’ According to territorial government engineer Justin Hazenberg, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs assists communities with the provision of clean drinking water and the Department of Health enforces regulations.
But when it comes to worrying about water contamination in the territory, Hazenberg says N.W.T.

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