Everyday life in the settlements: Water in cans and bag toilets

– The best defense for Greenland is to have a population that is spread out along the coast, and therefore there is a need to improve housing conditions in the settlements so that the depopulation does not continue. I believe that all homes should be connected to the water supply, and then there should be sewage. It is a failure on both the Danish and Greenlandic sides that 6,000-7,000 citizens still live with a bag toilet and without access to water in their homes, says deputy chairman of Siumut, Ineqi Kielsen.

Poor conditions are a cause for eviction

According to researcher, PhD and external lecturer at the Arctic engineering program in Sisimiut, ARTEK, Kåre Hendriksen, 15 percent of the country's households do not have running water and approximately 25 percent do not have sewage. They get water from water tanks and use bag toilets, which poses health risks.

In addition, in recent years we have seen an increasing number of people moving out of the settlements and smaller towns, which according to Ineqi Kielsen can also be attributed to the poorer conditions.

- The settlements have consequently been starved by the politicians. First by Denmark, and then by the Greenlandic politicians. This applies to both infrastructure and health. And this inequality is forcing people to move out of the settlements, he says.

An empty treasury

The exodus from settlements and smaller towns can be read directly in Statistics Greenland, where the population in the settlements has fallen from 9,146 in 2017 to 7,716 in 2026.

During the same period, Nuuk has experienced a population growth from 17,600 to 20,298 inhabitants. The larger settlements and the main settlements have a fairly stable population over the years.

For Ineqi Kielsen, it is not about pointing fingers at Denmark or talking about guilt, but about trying to get both the Danish government and the Greenland Government to prioritize the settlements and smaller towns in the future.

– Our treasury is empty. There is no money to allocate millions or billions to sewerage and establish water supply in all settlements and towns, but I believe that it is something that should be prioritized. And when Denmark can afford to send billions to Ukraine, then there should also be money to ensure that all citizens in Greenland have access to water in their homes and that there is sewerage.

– It is awful as it is today, says Ineqi Kielsen, referring to the fact that the Norwegian government spends billions to maintain towns and business activity in Finnmark, Nordland and Troms. In addition, all homes in towns such as Tromsø, Bodø and Harstad are connected to the public water and sewerage system.

Upernavik and settlements

According to Kåre Hendriksen, one should start by establishing the water supply in Upernavik and settlements, where approximately 1,600 people live, and where there is a good business base for fishing.

– Water supply and sewage should have been established many years ago in Upernavik and the surrounding settlements, and it should have been established by Denmark.

– But the Danish administration assessed in the post-war years that the district, like Uummannaq, had no future business base, and that the population should therefore move. But from the end of the 1980s, halibut fishing began in the area, and it has been there ever since. So I think that is where one should start. In addition, it has already been investigated how it can be done relatively simply by pulling water pipes from the neighboring island of Akia, where there are lakes that can ensure a sufficient water supply, says Kåre Hendriksen, who points out that both the Home Rule Government and later the Self-Government could also have prioritized the water supply and sewage system in the settlements, but that this never happened.

– Today, water supply is the responsibility of Nukissiorfiit, and they have consistently installed water pipes in all new construction in the larger cities, but why not in Upernavik? As the Chief Medical Officer has pointed out, it is very problematic for public health that in some of the country's settlements less than 10 liters of water are used per day per citizen.

Challenges with nighttime cleaning

According to the researcher, water supply is by far the most important priority. But there are also environmental problems associated with the handling of toilet bags.

Sermitsiaq has previously referred to a report from 2021 showing that bags from bag toilets are among the most frequently found plastic waste along the Greenlandic coasts.

In addition, there are the health problems associated with handling the bags locally.

– Sometimes the night cleaning results in a toilet bin that is filled to the brim and may weigh 50 kilos. It has to be dragged out to the car or ATV and driven to the dump, where the bags have to be cut open and the contents poured out. It often happens that there is spillage along the way. It is hard and potentially harmful to health work, says Kåre Hendriksen, who admits that not everywhere can be established.

– Upernavik and Qaanaaq will be relatively easy to sewer. But other places may be more difficult and expensive due to the geography. But there are other solutions. In the smaller settlements in Nunavut and Yellowknife in Canada, people have increasingly switched to tank solutions, where a sludge vacuum cleaner is used to empty the tanks. This avoids the need to personally handle the bags, says Kåre Hendriksen.