Insights into water insecurity in Indigenous communities in Canada: assessing microbial risks and innovative solutions, a multifaceted review

While most Canadians have access to high-quality drinking water, several Indigenous reserves face water insecurity. Drinking water systems (DWS) on reserves face limitations ranging from aging infrastructure and shared administration of water regulations. When potential hazards are identified in source waters, local environmental authorities may issue “water advisories”. Up to date, more than 20 long-term water advisories remain unresolved in Indigenous reserves in Canada. The risks associated with water insecurity include the presence of pathogenic microorganisms (i.e. Escherichia coli and total coliforms) and the reaction of natural organic matter (NOM) with disinfection chemicals in the DWS potentially forming disinfection by-products (DBPs). We revised the challenges and the potential use of different methods to remove NOM from water including coagulation, high- and low-pressure membrane filtration procedures, ozone, Ion exchange (IEX), and Biological Ion exchange (BIEX). Moreover, we reviewed the benefits and drawbacks that high throughput tools such as metagenomics, culturomics, and microfluidics devices could represent for water monitoring in Indigenous reserves. This review pursues a better understanding of the microbiological and chemical risks that water insecurity causes in Indigenous reserves in Canada. Additionally, we evaluate the potential implications of the potential technical and microbiological solutions that can be used to prevent the effect of pathogens in water and protect public health in Indigenous reserves.