Canadian Arctic city says its water safe for drinking weeks after fuel contamination

"Thorough testing and assessments conducted over the past eight weeks, show that the water is safe for consumption and that the risk of recontamination is low," said Michael Patterson, the chief public health officer of Canada's Arctic territory Nunavut. Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, which borders Greenland, had declared a state of emergency mid-October, telling residents to stop using city water for drinking and cooking.

The Canadian city of Iqaluit in the country's northern territory said on Friday that it was now safe for its 7,000 residents to consume the municipality's water, nearly two months after fuel was found in the water supply. "Thorough testing and assessments conducted over the past eight weeks, show that the water is safe for consumption and that the risk of recontamination is low," said Michael Patterson, the chief public health officer of Canada's Arctic territory Nunavut.

Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, which borders Greenland, had declared a state of emergency mid-October, telling residents to stop using city water for drinking and cooking. The residents had reported fuel odors in the water, prompting the city to conduct tests that found "exceedingly high levels of various fuel components" in samples from a water tank.

Officials scrubbed tanks and installed new monitors, among other measures, and continued periodic tests that showed levels of hydrocarbon substances were either undetectable or within safety levels for drinking water, according to a statement.

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