MBC News File Photo
It’s something most of us don’t even think twice about, but for decades has been a struggle far too familiar for those living in the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. (AOPFN)
1988 was the year the application was submitted and 2026 is the year of completion. After study-upon-study, AOPFN has a brand new water treatment facility supplying residents with clean drinking water, right to their taps.
Over time, the drinking water in AOPFN became contaminated with many different pollutants. Many wells became undrinkable due to uranium, sulfur, and heavy metals. Even the Bonnechere River through the community is not potable. Greg Sarazin, Chief of the AOPFN says on how impactful this new treatment plant is going to be.
Putting in a water treatment facility in an area with topography like AOPFN isn’t your standard project. Due to the shallow depth of bedrock and shield rock throughout the community, to run watermains to homes in the area required blasting and hammering through the dense rock and ripping up roadways. Dustin Logan, Manager of Public Works for AOPFN says once they got in there, it was a scary situation.
Logan said the project wouldn’t have been possible without the work from multiple teams of crews. Hydro One had the three phase electrical expansion for the plant already in place before shovels even got in the ground. Planning and operations teams made sure the project was well organized. Logan wanted to thank AOPFN, First Nations Engineering Services, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, and Indigenous Services Canada for their hard work and dedication over the years. All of these teams have been operating together for more than 30 years to get this project done.
Then the construction teams made sure the project went quickly and smoothly over the three years it took to build the facility and run the lines. These teams included ASCO Construction, BEI, Harringtons, IECBL and many more subcontractors and subtrades.
Craig Baker has been working on the project for 31 years as a part of First Nations Engineering Services Limited. Initially as the general manager, now a senior advisor and on the board of directors; he says it was a battle to get the project approved and underway.
Now, the facility is up and running. Pumping clean fresh water from the plant right to the homes throughout the AOPFN. Merv Sarazin, a Member of Band Council has been with the project from the very beginning and recalls the days of having to carry the water from the river to his home as a child.
Residents and members of the AOPFN will now have clean water to drink, bathe, and wash for generations to come.
(Written by: Bob Kubbinga)
