Water service restored in Unalakleet

Unalakleet’s water services have been restored by the City after extreme cold temperatures and high winds compromised the community’s water treatment and distribution system last month. The City of Unalakleet issued a local disaster declaration on February 26.

The village’s water treatment plant, now back online, is distributing water to the majority of the community, according to a press release from the Department of Military and Veteran’s Affairs. Three of Unalakleet’s four water distribution circuits are functioning and they are currently working on the last circuit. Unalakleet’s four-mile long transmission line carries water to fill a one-million gallon water tank. When enough water is in the tank, a sample will be sent to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation to determine if the boil notice can end.

During the disruption, residents could get water from community wells, along with a well at the Native Village of Unalakleet’s Assisted Living Facility.

An employee of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management visited Unalakleet and met with community leaders to identify areas where the division can help implement the village’s current water system update plan. Also, the City of Unalakleet is working with other entities, including Norton Sound Health Corporation and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, to address these issues. With funding from a Village Safe Water Capital Improvement Project, several wells were drilled in 2018 and 2019, but they were not connected to the community’s water treatment or distribution system, so expediting this process is a particular priority.

The City of Unalakleet is currently in a multi-year project to upgrade their water system, which is nearly 60-years-old and will ultimately need a complete replacement. A few days before Unalakleet issued the disaster declaration, brown, coffee-colored tap water came out of the faucets. This occurs when the City turns its circulation pumps to keep the water from freezing and is the result of an outdated system. The circulation pumps pick up corrosion and grime in the pipes within the system and distribute it, causing the water to turn brown. The City is working to secure funding for a total change out of its system.

Photo courtesy of the City of Unalakleet CORRODED—Unalakleet's water turned brown as circulation pumps picked up corrosion and grime in the community's outdated piping system. This photo shows the condition of most of the clamps that surround the pipes in Unalakleet's system. In the upper right corner is an example of how a clamp should look.