ROSSLYN – A new chlorinated filtration system designed to remove high arsenic levels from Rosslyn's drinking water will be subject to a 30-day trial period before village residents are told the water is safe to consume.
An earlier project update from the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge said the trial period is "to ensure the system functions properly, and reduces arsenic levels below the acceptable threshold."
The system's design, which was reviewed by provincial environmental officials, "was approved and incorporated into our drinking water licence on Aug. 7," the municipal update said.
A Thunder Bay contracting company retained to construct the $374,000 filtration unit was expected to conduct "installation and commissioning of the system in the first week of November," the municipal update said.
The arsenic-filtration system is being installed as an addition to Rosslyn's existing water treatment facility.
"If the (arsenic filtration) system works, with (provincial) permission the system will go online," the municipal update said.
About 30 Rosslyn village households receive their water from a communal well.
In March, 2023, Thunder Bay District Health Unit issued a drinking-water advisory for the village after high levels of arsenic levels were detected.
The advisory warned the water was unfit to drink, even after it was boiled.
It remains in effect.
After the advisory was issued, the municipality provided Rosslyn residents with bottled water at a cost of about $4,000 per month.
"We will continue to do that until the new (arsenic-removal) system has been approved and is ready to go," Oliver Paipoonge Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis said on Friday.
It's not unusual for well-based drinking water systems to be found with elevated arsenic levels.
