Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Findings 27

Need for American Indian and

Alaska Native Water Systems

The total 20-year need for the 884

American Indian and Alaska Native

water systems is $1.3 billion; $0.56 billion for American Indian systems and

$0.77 billion for Alaska Native systems.

Of this total, approximately $1.1 billion

is needed now to replace existing

infrastructure or to extend a water

system's service to nearby households

that do not have safe running water.

The survey of American Indian and

Alaska Native water systems was

conducted in consultation with IHS.

American Indian and Alaska Native

representatives participated in survey

design and implementation.

This section of the report provides an

overall picture of the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native water

systems. The IHS Sanitary Deficiency

System (SDS) provides information on

specific needs and ranks communities'

needs based on threats to public

health.

Needs reported here for American

Indian and Alaska Native systems are

conservative. Projects solely for future

growth were not included, nor were

needs for non-community water

systems. But more importantly for the

American Indian and Alaska Native

survey, only needs associated with

existing water systems were collected.

Data were not gathered for homes or

groups of homes that do not currently

have running water and are too distant

from existing water systems

for interconnection. A greater

proportion of American Indian

and Alaska Native households

lack running water than do

households in the country as a

whole.

Needs for American Indian and

Alaska Native water systems are high,

averaging almost $43,500 per household for Alaska Native communities

and over $6,200 per household for

American Indian systems for the

20-year period covered by the survey.

These needs are high for a number of

reasons. Many American Indian and

Alaska Native people now carry their

water from a public watering point at a

community water system. Providing

piped water to these households often

involves substantial expansion and

modification of existing facilities. This

is especially true in Alaska Native

communities.

The Drinking Water Infrastructure

Needs Survey places the total 20-year

need for American Indian and Alaska

Native water systems at $1.3 billion.

Indian Health Service

The remoteness of American Indian and Alaska

Native communities often requires that

communities bring in equipment and construction material by unconventional means.
28 Findings Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

Distribution mains in many

arctic Alaska Native communities must be constructed above

ground because ice-rich

permafrost soils are often

unstable. Water must be

circulated and heated so that it

does not freeze during arctic

winters.

Like other systems throughout the

country, most needs faced by American Indian and Alaska Native systems

are associated with transmission and

distribution and with treatment. Alaska

Native systems, because of the limited

availability of sources during the

winter, also have high storage costs.

These categories and unique aspects of

the needs of American Indian and

Alaska Native water systems are

discussed in greater detail below.

Alaska Native Water Systems

Transmission and Distribution.

Transmission and distribution account

for about half of the total Alaska Native

water system need. Alaska Native

communities often face unique

challenges in constructing transmission and distribution systems. Because

of freezing and structural stability

problems associated with permafrost,

they are frequently unable to use

construction methods typical of the

lower 48 States. This is particularly true

for communities located near or north

of the Arctic Circle. Often, the most

cost effective construction method

available to these communities is

aboveground construction of housed

and insulated mains called “utilidors.”

To be effective and reliable, mains

must be constructed in “loops” so that

water can be heated and continually

circulated to prevent freezing. For the

same reasons, water must be circulated to and from homes through

looped circulating service lines. Many

system components, including

circulation pumps, boilers, and

generators, must be paired to provide

the redundancy necessary to minimize

risk of failures that would result in

frozen water lines and pumps. Such

failures would be certain to cause

extended loss of service and require

extensive repair or complete replacement of the system.

Because many American Indian and

Alaska Native systems are located in

areas remote from other communities,

tying into a larger water system or

joining with other communities to form

a consolidated water system is often

impractical. Some of these systems

face significantly higher costs because

of the difficulty in obtaining and

transporting materials. American

Indian and Alaska Native systems

encounter additional problems

because of arid or permafrost conditions, both of which make water

sources difficult to find. Finally, like

other small communities, they often

lack economies of scale.

These problems are made worse by

the fact that about 30 percent of

American Indians and Alaska Natives

have incomes below the poverty level.

Many American Indian and Alaska

Native people live through traditional

subsistence farming, hunting, and

fishing and do not generate significant

cash income.

Dan Fraser
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Findings 29 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Surveyaa

Supplying water in arctic conditions presents unique engineering challenges. To be structurally sound,

heated facilities such as the water treatment facility and storage tank must be constructed on pilings or

large pads made of imported gravel. In addition to the components diagramed here, the water treatment

plant often houses a washeteria with showers, toilets, and laundry facilities.

Insulated

storage

aa

water

tankaa

aa

Redundant Pumps

a

aWarmed Water

Cold Wateraa

a

aaSchematic of an Arctic Alaska Water System aGenerator

a

a

aaa

aWater-Glycol

Heatedaa

aMix

a

aaaTreatment Plant/

Washeteriaaa

a

Exchangers

Redundant

Pilings

Boiler

Heat

Boiler

a

a

a

a

a

a

a

aWater-Glycola

a

aCooled

Mixaa

a

a

aaWarmed Water

Cold Water

aaa

Service

Line

a

a

a

aPermafrost

Distributionaa

a

Water

Lineaa

Return

a

Line

a

a

aa

aaa

aCustomersa

a

a

a

a

aaFindingsaaa

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aStoragea

a

Fuela

a

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29

a

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30 Findings Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

Atqasuk, an Alaska Native water system, is located north of the

Arctic Circle. Water for the community must be treated and stored

for the winter during a brief “window of opportunity” when ice

melts each summer. The cartridge filters below cannot provide

adequate treatment and need to be replaced with a conventional

filtration plant. Also, the water system does not have adequate

storage to provide the community with running water year-round.

New insulated storage, like the tank shown, is needed.

Treatment and Storage. Together,

projects to install or replace treatment

and storage facilities for Alaska Native

communities represent over a third of

their reported need. Approximately

80 percent of Alaska Native water

systems have needs for treatment.

Approximately 85 percent of Alaska

Native water systems have needs for

storage.

Approximately half of all Alaska Native

communities rely on surface water

sources; the rest rely on ground water.

Treatment of ground water and surface

water present very similar problems

and expenses in arctic conditions. The

limited ground water sources available

are often of poor quality, containing

very high concentrations of iron and

manganese. These contaminants must

be removed by techniques commonly

associated with surface water treatment as practiced in the lower 48

States. As a result, the processes

employed for treating ground water

and surface water sources, and the

associated capital improvement costs,

are very similar despite differences in

the contaminants and associated

health risks.

Treatment of surface water in arctic

conditions can present unusual and

difficult problems. Winter darkness,

permafrost, frozen source water,

subzero temperatures, and arctic

weather conditions can make it

impractical to pump water from a

surface water source to the treatment

plant. Some communities in Alaska’s

North Slope Borough have a “window

of opportunity” for treatment which

lasts only six to eight weeks during the

summer. These communities treat a

full year’s supply of water in this short

period of time. Successful operation of

this type of system requires insulated

and heated storage facilities with

capacity of 365 days of water as

compared to the one or two days

storage common to systems in more

Dan Fraser

Dan Fraser
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Findings 31

temperate climates. Compounding

problems and expenses, facilities must

be capable of treating and pumping

water at six or more times the rate that

would be needed if they could treat

daily. Finally, paired components such

as boilers, pumps, and standby

generators are necessary to heat and

circulate water to keep storage,

treatment, and distribution systems

from freezing.

The total capital improvement costs for

Alaska Native communities are driven

upward further due to the short

construction season and the cost of

transporting equipment and materials.

In many cases, materials and equipment must be brought in on barges

when summer temperatures make

rivers navigable. In some cases,

airlifting materials becomes necessary.

American Indian Water Systems

Transmission and Distribution.

American Indian water systems can

also face problems associated with

their location. Many American Indian

communities are distant from other

towns and communities, so they must

construct and maintain their own water

systems. The cost-saving option of

connecting to and purchasing water

from an existing system usually is not

available for these systems because

they are so remote. Because of the

rural, widely-dispersed nature of many

American Indian communities, more

linear feet of water transmission and

distribution line is necessary per

customer served. Almost 40 percent of

American Indian needs are for

transmission and distribution.

Treatment. About a third of American

Indian needs are for treatment. Water

sources can be difficult to find in the

arid country in which many American

Indian communities are located and,

when found, water is often of poor

quality. American Indian communities

frequently are forced to use sources

that are expensive to treat. Over half of

American Indian systems have needs

for treating their ground water sources,

while about 30 percent of similarlysized ground water systems regulated

by the States have treatment needs.

For many American Indian water

systems, surface waters are the best

sources available. Treatment of surface

water is usually more expensive than

ground water treatment and is crucial

because of the potential health threat

from microbiological contaminants.

Seventy-five percent of American

Indian surface water systems have

capital improvement needs for

treatment, compared to 50 percent of

similarly sized surface water systems

regulated by the States.

Exhibit 9 shows the location of American Indian Tribal lands and Alaska

Native water systems. A detailed

breakdown of American Indian and

Alaska Native need can be found in

Appendix B, Exhibits B-6 through B-8.

Dan Fraser

Pictured is a recently drilled

well being tested and developed

for an American Indian water

system in Northeast Washington

State. Previously drilled wells

near the community have dried

up. Several miles of transmission main are needed to bring

water from this new well.
32 Findings Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey

Top of mesa where the

traditional community is

located.

Chuck Villa, water system

operator, looking down at

the exposed transmission

main ascending the face of

the cliff.

32 Findings Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Dan Fraser Dan Fraser

The Hopi Indian community of Polacca in northeastern Arizona provides water to traditional

American Indian homes located on the top of a mesa. Provision of safe drinking water under

these circumstances presents some unusual and difficult problems. Water from the town's wells

must be pumped, via an aboveground transmission line, up the rock face of the mesa to the

homes. The exposed transmission line is subject to breaks caused by freezing and corrosion.

When the pipe breaks, water pressure in the mesa system can be lost, making the upper

community vulnerable to contamination. In addition, the mesa community relies on a hydropneumatic tank to provide pressure in the water system. During power failures, water is pulled

down the transmission main by gravity, causing negative pressure in distribution piping on the

mesa and inviting contamination of the system. To prevent these health risks, the transmission

main would have to be protected from freezing by being buried below the frost line or by other

methods of insulation and/or heating. Also, standby power or an elevated storage tank would

have to be provided on the mesa top.
Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey Findings 33

Exhibit 9: Location of American Indian Tribal Lands and Alaska Native Water Systems

Location of American Indian Tribal Lands

- Federal Reservations larger than 50 square miles

- Federal Reservations smaller than 50 square miles and

Federal Groups without Reservations

- Location of Alaska Native water systems

Not to scale