research - water , fresh , salination

info on fresh water & salination of lakes/ rivers

no underground supply pipes because of permafrost
fresh water trucked to houses

Glacial meltwater on tap
Unlike most Nunavut communities, our water isn't sucked out of a lake. Grise Fiord collects meltwater in the spring and stores it in two large tanks to supply the community for the whole year. The source is glaciers north of the town, and I'm sure there is snow melt and rain coming off the glacier too.

The water trucks don't have to drive very far; the tanks are right in the middle of town.

The old tank was turned into a storage garage when it was decommissioned:

Scientists also predict that the Arctic Ocean will be one of the first regions to feel the effects of ocean acidification. Ocean acidification is a consequence of increased carbon dioxide dissolving from the atmosphere into seawater and forming carbonic acid. Acidification will make it more difficult for shellfish and other marine organisms to create shells and other hard body parts. Acidification could have profound impacts on the tiny animals at the foundation of the Arctic food web. Increases in acidity could result in mass extinctions that fundamentally transform Arctic ecosystems.

I followed your advice on researching Sewage lagoons & their effect.

Do Nunavut people ever have to purify their drinking water? It is treated (chlorinated) once inside the delivery trucks.

Or is the water delivered to homes treated properly? Basic chlorination

Or do the people prefer to buy bottled drinking water? Most people don’t - it’s very expensive

I see the sewage lagoons atttracts birds & now the local people dont want to eat these waste-eating birds? They avoid eating them – people say they taste bad

Do they have any sort of bird deterants at the lagoons? No

Is the problem with the lagoons that there is not a qualified manager or is it because they run out of chlorine? There are no “managers” really – local people get some training and then it’s all ad hoc

Will people use a water purification system in their homes? Some use Britta filters on their taps

Hey Henko! Where did you get this info from? (And how were you so lucky to get such a feedback from the locals?! I didn't get replies to even half of my e-mails...)
http://www.solidwastemag.com/issues/story.aspx?aid=1000387772 - Nunavut join forces to build a sewage lagoon

And something more: 2010 water use inspection report lowlights (I just noticed it is exactly the same thing you posted in a differnt topic )
Arctic Bay: Sewage eventually seeps to the ocean from the lagoon.

Baker Lake: Effluent from the sewage lagoon flows into three small lakes in sequence, eventually leading to Baker Lake, the source of the community's drinking water.

The runoff in those lakes appears to be contaminated with spills and leakage from the hazardous waste not properly stored at the landfill.
None of the required annual reports has been filed since 2005.
The inspector threatened legal action against the GN and the municipality. "Such obvious disregard for authority and disrespect for the environment are of great concern to the inspector," stated the report.

Cambridge Bay: Char observed feeding in "green" and stinky stream of sewage outfall into bay.

Cape Dorset: The three-tier lagoon system was in poor shape and at capacity, with each cell overflowing into the next and then down gradient into the ocean.

Clyde River: The hazardous waste landfill is problematic, as "a number of barrels containing waste oils, lubricants and glycol are lying on their sides or leaking."

Hall Beach: Lagoon cell 1 continues to leak and the GN has not yet cleaned up the 2008 release of 13 million litres of raw sewage.

Iglulik: Had to borrow chlorine from Hall Beach as it almost ran out and sewage from the multi-cell lagoon is "continuously seeping through the berm walls," the inspector noted.

Hazardous materials, including old batteries and oxidizing pool chemicals, are not contained and "easily" accessible to the public.

Iqaluit: The landfill is near capacity, with shredded waste piled 25 metres high.

Kimmirut: Sewage continues to discharge into a ditch that drains directly into the ocean

Kugaaruk: At the time of the drinking water inspection, neither the keys to the pumphouse nor the chlorination records could be found and chlorine level testing kits were not being used. "It is unclear if the source water is being treated with chlorine or if bleach is being added," states the report.

Kugluktuk: The new lagoon liner has "very large" bubbles under it, which may threaten its integrity, and the lagoon liner is not sealed in a number of places and was possibly installed upside down.

Pangnirtung: The water treatment plant is not properly treating the sewage as it is working above its designed capacity

Pond Inlet: The sewage lagoon has been leaking for the last two to three years and the decant structure is frozen and inoperable.

Repulse Bay: Because waste in the landfill has not been burned or buried in more than three years, waste has been piling up. "This is a serious health risk and wildlife attractant," the inspector noted.

Source: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada