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The clean water is thanks in part to new infrastructure and a new water source, won after three decades of fighting for access to clean drinking water, Charles says. Tap water is now sourced from Metro Vancouver and travels through 12 kilometres of new pipes and three pump stations to reach the community’s 31 homes and six administrative buildings.
The struggle for water started in 1991 when the community’s water distribution system aged out and needed to be replaced, Charles says.
In the ’90s the nation purchased water from the privately owned White Rock Utilities. The first drinking water advisory was issued in 1996. In October 2005, the nation was placed on a permanent boil water advisory when its water found E. coli and total coliforms, which Canada measures to test if water is drinkable, exceeded allowable levels.