Heat recovery project completed in Noorvik
January 6, 2017
ANTHC construction crews recently completed work on the heat recovery energy project. The City of Noorvik’s water and wastewater system is now reaping the benefits of a heat recovery system. In a celebratory public council meeting Monday, Dec. 19, ANTHC Rural Energy Initiative’s Eric Hanssen, along with the ARUC program’s Chris Cox, Francine Moreno, and Alaska Rural Water Association’s (ARWA) Sean Berry, shared the good news about the completed project and benefits to system customers.
Beginning in February, residents will see a rate decrease from $182 to $157.50 per month. This rate decrease is due in large part to Noorvik’s local operators Elino Bantatua and Jeff Gottschalk, who have helped Noorvik by keeping expenses low, ensuring user collections and displaying a strong dedication to effectively operate the system.
Keeping his community in mind, Bantatua said, “I’ve got five kids, and this system is my sixth.”
Noorvik’s new heat recovery system captures waste heat from the generator cooling system at the local power plant and puts it to use by offsetting heating oil at the water plant.
“The new system is estimated to cut the water plant’s heating oil use by 90 percent and will save roughly 15,000 gallons of fuel annually,” said Hanssen, ANTHC Rural Energy Initiative Program Manager. According to ARUC, these savings mean the community users should expect to see another rate decrease in 2018.
The community was also presented with two formal recognition announcements. The City of Noorvik was recently named 2016 Small Water System of the year by ARWA, as well as one of 27 ARUC community recipients of the 2016 High Honors Harvard Honoring Nations Award.
Learn more about the Rural Energy Initiative at https://www.anthc.org/what-we-do/rural-energy/.