What happened? Groundwater quality in Saskatchewan is typically extremely poor. Indian Affairs, which now calls itself Aboriginal Affairs, has even labeled some groundwater sources as “untreatable.”

In 1999 everybody knew that Yellow Quill First Nation had bad tap water. Actually, bad, was an understatement.

To make matters worse, Kelvington annually released its wastewater lagoon into Pipestone Creek. Most wastewater discharges from lagoons in Saskatchewan are of really poor quality in the spring.

In June 2002, everybody agreed on one thing: resolving Yellow Quill’s water woes would need some heavy artillery.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: “The proof is in the pudding.” What if there is not even a pudding?

He likens any water source as a “smorgasbord” of food for bacteria. The biological treatment eradicates that smorgasbord, so that there is not a scrap of food for bacteria, and the bacteria disappear.

For decades the federal government has constructed the water treatment plants according to the Low Cost Rule. This has resulted in poor quality engineering, poor quality workmanship, poor quality equipment, and poor quality treated water.