After a water pipe freeze-up that left the village of Alakanuk without water or sewer service for over two weeks, officials are still trying to understand how this happened, and how to prevent it in the future.
Alakanuk recently shut down its diesel generator, which was used to power the village, in favor of piggybacking power off of the nearby village of Emmonak.
Bill Griffith, of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), often helps communities make these transitions.
“Instead of having to maintain two generator sets, you’ll only have to maintain one generator set. So there’s lots of reasons to do it from the electrical side, but it certainly has a downside on the water plant side," Griffith said.
Griffith is worried that the switch in power supplies might have contributed to the freeze-up, and could potentially cause another one because the villages pipes will no longer be heated by exhaust from the generator.
“If you just look at the total balance of the two villages, my guess is they’ll be using just as much waste heat as they were before the change. It’s just that all the benefit will go to Emmonak," Griffith said.
The DEC has not been in contact with the village yet to convey Griffith's concerns, but the village expressed interest in talking with DEC about how the system could be improved.