Talkeetna water repair bill approved

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story stated the pump repairs cost in excess of $214,000. That figure was erroneously ascribed to the pump repair, when in reality the $214,000 loan approved by the borough assembly was for general improvements to the Talkeetna sewage treatment plant. The new pump actually cost $210.

WASILLA — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly unanimously voted to approve funding for repairs to the Talkeetna water treatment plant at a Tuesday meeting.

The borough had received a warning from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation about elevated arsenic levels in drinking water. Arsenic is a naturally occurring element in the earth’s crust that sometime leaches into groundwater. The EPA has set the acceptable limit at 10 parts per billion (ppb), and levels reported in two separate tests recorded a result of about 13 ppb, said Department of Public Works Director Terry Dolan. That’s about the naturally occurring level of arsenic found in untreated groundwater in the area, Dolan said.

The EPA limit was introduced in 2001, and went down from the previous standard of 50 parts per billion, Dolan said.

“That’s what forced the construction of the water treatment plant,” he said. “The water runs between 13 and 14 parts per billion, and that wasn’t good enough.”

The plant uses the compound ferric chloride to bond with arsenic, and once treated, the arsenic coagulates, or thickens, and can be removed using a simple filter, according to Dolan.

However, the pump responsible for metering out the ferric chloride to treat the arsenic had stopped working, meaning nothing was coagulating, and nothing was getting filtered out.

Borough officials had to order a rebuilt pump from an out-of-state provider, at a cost of $210.

The issue with the drinking water is separate from an issue arising from a DEC letter over concerns about the amount of fecal coliform bacteria discharged by the city’s sewage treatment plant. Officials have proposed raising sewage fees for Talkeetna residents to pay for improvements and maintenance at the sewage treatment plant.

Contact Reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.