After drinking bottled water for 20 years due to levels of arsenic being found in their tap water, the Stellat’en First Nation is over the moon after getting its water treatment plant.
The 3.5 million dollar unit was installed this month, near Fraser Lake giving residents clean tap water to drink.
Chief Archie Patrick believes the new plant gives them peace of mind.
“It’s a wonderful thing and is something we don’t have to worry about when you walk into your house and there is no problem with the tap water. It’s just another wrinkle that’s been taken out of our lives.”
“It should be a regular thing for anyone just to be able to drink out of the tap and we weren’t able to do that for quite a number of years. It’s a major thing and people take that for granted, it’s great.”
Patrick says boiling the tap water didn’t help due to the levels of arsenic in the water.
He adds it’s been a long and drawn out process that is finally over.
“The arsenic levels were quite high but it was in the higher level of the tolerance and when they viewed it again they found that it might be just above it. When that happened it took us a couple of years to accommodate everyone and get used to the bottled water coming in.”