ROSSLYN – A new chlorine filtration system designed to remove high levels of arsenic from Rosslyn’s drinking water will undergo a 30-day trial period before village residents are told the water is safe to drink.

An earlier project update from Oliver Paipoonge Municipality said the trial period was to “ensure the system is operating properly and reducing arsenic levels below the acceptable threshold”.

The system design, which was reviewed by provincial environmental officials, “was approved and incorporated into our drinking water license on August 7,” the municipal update said.

A Thunder Bay contracting company retained to build the $374,000 filtration unit was expected to complete “installation and commissioning of the system during the first week of November,” the municipal update states.

The arsenic filtration system is being installed to complement Rosslyn’s existing water treatment facility.

“If the (arsenic filtration) system works, with (provincial) permission, the system will be brought online,” the municipal update said.

Around 30 households in the village of Rosslyn receive their water from a communal well.

In March 2023, the Thunder Bay District Health Unit issued a drinking water advisory for the village after elevated levels of arsenic were detected.

The notice warned that the water was unfit for drinking, even after being boiled.

It remains in force.

After the advisory was issued, the municipality provided Rosslyn residents with bottled water at a cost of approximately $4,000 per month.

“We will continue to do this until the new (arsenic removal) system is approved and is ready to operate,” Oliver Paipoonge Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis said on Friday.

It is not uncommon for well-supplied drinking water systems to have high levels of arsenic.