'It's the most important job': New water operators course comes to Indigenous communities

The Parkland College, Yorkton Tribal Council and Indigenous Services Canada have teamed together to bring a water and wastewater operators course to Indigenous communities.

The 19-week course is called, Intro to Water Operators.

The course is aimed to provide foundational training in the field of water treatment.

It’s a hybrid of both in-person math classes and online classes taught by ATAP Infrastructure Management Ltd., which specializes in water treatment courses.

The online portion aimed to reach students in rural areas.

“We wanted to set up the program in such a way to be very flexible so that participants didn’t necessarily have to leave their communities for the whole period of time that they’re taking the course,” Connie Brown with Parkland College said.

There are eight communities involved, including Kahkewistahaw First Nation, Ocean Man First Nation, Key First Nation, Cote First Nation, Keeseekoose First Nation, Cowessess First Nation, Zagime Anishinabek First Nation and Ochapowace First Nation.

Water and wastewater operators are responsible for ensuring the sanitation of the water in their community. Depending on the water source, there is a risk of heavy metals and bacteria seeping into the water if it’s not filtered properly.

“He’s the first line of defense in the health issue within the water. He would know first, he would know how to rectify it. To me it’s the most important job in the field,” Ira Aisaican supervisor at the Cowessess Water Treatment Plant said.

Aisaican said the plant treats an average of one million gallons of water a month. Iron, manganese and arsenic are common contaminants he has often found in the water.

Aisaican has seen the plant upgrade from a one-step greensand filter to now a four-step biofilter system. He said the most recent upgrade cost about $3.5 million.

He added water treatment practices vary between communities.

“It all boils down to how much politicians value water in communities and how community members want to have good water coming out of their taps,” he said.

Access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water is a human right according to the United Nations General Assembly. The United Nations states that each individual should have access to a sufficient amount of water, between 50 and 100 litres of water per day and the water source has to be within 1,000 metres of the home.

Water is an essential part of sustaining life and the Parkland College hopes it can send competent workers back into the community.