Implementing an On-Site Drinking Water Monitoring System in Indigenous Communities Across Canada

Status of Drinking Water in Indigenous Communities

Indigenous communities including First Nations reserves across Canada have a notorious history of poor or inconsistent drinking water quality

• Many communities (55 as of Mar. 25, 2021) are under long-termdrinking water advisories, meaning potable tap water has not been available for several years
• The Canadian Government has a program to invest in improvements to drinking water infrastructure where progress is measured by the number of long-term drinking water advisories that are lifted
• Tracking only lifting of advisories risks missing the significant number of individual households who are not connected to a water distribution system and still will not have reliable drinking water available
• Stress on water resources and water insecurity places a greater emphasis on water testing, especially for E. coli and Total Coliform bacteria

Challenges for water monitoring in remote communities

• Conventional testing requires trained personnel in a laboratory:
• samples must be shipped, this can add significant cost
• turn-around time for results can be several days
• in winter samples might arrive frozen
• control of water quality includes people outside the community