Centre for Alternative Wastewater Treatment

6.3 DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT MONITORING AND REPORTING ACTIVITIES AND
CHALLENGES

While effluent quality monitoring is required by water licenses issues by the NWB, most municipalities Nunavut do not monitor effluent quality, instead relying on compliance monitoring or sampling by contractors during infrastructure upgrades to alert them to treatment problems. Annual reporting is inconsistent in the region, and most annual reports only contain data on volumes of water collected and sewage discharged (Table 8).

Limited resources and capacity, characteristics of the treatment system, and logistical issues are the main reasons that monitoring is a challenge for most Nunavut communities. Both financial means and technical expertise are limited in the majority of communities, and in some communities the municipality is understaffed. Lagoons and wetlands, which are an appropriate treatment technology for the North as they are robust, practical and relatively affordable, also have characteristics that make monitoring difficult—such as finding the outflow. Further, there are no accredited laboratories in Nunavut, so all samples must be flown to a laboratory in Ottawa, Yellowknife, Edmonton or Calgary. Monitoring has to be coordinated with flight schedules, and not all hamlets have direct or frequent flights. In addition, the municipality must pay for flying samples to the laboratory. Depending on the scope of effluent quality monitoring, costs can range from $5 to 10K per year (Ken Johnson, personal communication).

TABLE 8. Monitoring and reporting activities in select Nunavut communities
	Monitoring results for municipality	Annual reporting by municipality to NWB
Cambridge Bay	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	No report received for 2002 to 20066
Gjoa Haven	No results on NWB FTP site. No monitoring in 2006; unknown if monitoring occurred past years	Reports received for 2000 and 2001; annual reports not submitted for 2002 to 2006
Kugluktuk	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	No annual report received 1996 to 2001; 2001 to 2006 unconfirmed
Taloyoak	No results on NWB FTP site; no monitoring 2002 to 2005, 2006 unknown	Unconfirmed
Arctic Bay	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	No reports received 2002 to 2005; 2006 report completed
Cape Dorset	No results on NWB FTP site. No monitoring in 2006; unknown if monitoring occurred past years	Annual reports received for 2002 to 2006 inclusive
Clyde River	No results on NWB FTP site. No monitoring in 2006; unknown if monitoring occurred past years	Unconfirmed
Grise Fiord	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	Unconfirmed
Hall Beach	No results on NWB FTP site. No monitoring in 2006; unknown if monitoring occurred past years	Unconfirmed
Igloolik	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	No annual reports received 1998, 1999 and 2000; other years unconfirmed
Iqaluit	Recent monitoring results not available on NWB FTP site but all parties agree that WWTP will be out of compliance with license until Phase 2 of WWTP is complete (Phase 2 will commence 2008)	Report received for 2006 and 1998; 1999 to 2005 inclusive not received (not available on NWB FTP site)
Kimmirut	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	2002 to 2006 received
Pangnirtung	In 2007, sampling carried out by consultant. No other results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring is occurring	2002 and 2003 received, 2004 to 2006 not received
Pond Inlet	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	No report submitted 1999 and 2000; other years unconfirmed
Qikiqtarjuaq	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	2006 annual report submitted but incomplete; other years unconfirmed
Resolute	No results on NWB FTP site. No monitoring 2006; other years unknown	Unconfirmed
Sanikiluaq	No results on NWB FTP site; unknown if monitoring occurring	Unconfirmed