The National Tribal Water Center and the Alaska Rural Utility Collaborative (ARUC) are partnering on a project called Water is Life, which promotes healthy water-use behaviors though the development of education and outreach interventions using science, culture, art, and media. Water is Life specifically promotes pride and ownership in Tribal drinking water and water systems, and celebrates the healthy Alaska Native cultural values and traditions surrounding water. The project brings an entire community together with a shared vision and awareness ...

Pre-moistened body and sanitary wipes are gaining popularity, which is unfortunately correlated with a rise in damage to plumbing pipes and costly repairs as a result of these wipes being flushed down toilets. Over the past year, ANMC and other regional hospitals and clinics have had several plumbing clogs, as well as sewer drain damage to village sanitation systems. The most frequent cause of the clogs has been masses of moistened “flushable” wipes. Many brands of these wipes are marketed ...

This week, ANTHC was recognized for innovation in development of the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network by Dennis McLerran, EPA Regional Administrator and JoAnn Chase, Director of the American Indian Environmental Office. We share this award with our LEO Network membership, consisting of more than 100 dedicated volunteer local environmental observers located across Alaska and the technical scientific support experts assisting from state and federal agencies. In addition to the award presented at the Alaska Forum for the Environment conference, ...

Climate change has introduced a substantial challenge to maintaining in-home sanitary service to communities in the Arctic. Thawing ground and permafrost has increased movement between utilities and the homes they serve. Communities and water plant operators noted the need for innovative solutions to address the way service connections are constructed. ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering staff answered this call with an innovation called the “through wall disconnect” that allows a flexible connection at the point of in-home water and sewer ...

Two and a half years after Galena was stuck by catastrophic spring floods, the community is returning to normal with nearly all of the public facilities restored and rebuilt. ANTHC environmental health and engineering staff were a large part of the recovery effort and hope to share their lessons learned with other villages and Tribes before disaster strikes. When Galena was hit with the flood in spring 2013, it affected every aspect of life for residents of the Yukon River ...

Last week, ANTHC Tribal Utility Support Journeyman Electrician Kolt Garvey joined an emergency response team in Unalakleet to repair a wastewater lift station pump, which is used to move wastewater without costly construction. In the interim, Unalakleet operated a pumper truck to keep the lift station pumping after the station failure, but the process was labor and equipment intensive leading to greater energy and time costs for the city. ANTHC joined the emergency response led by the State of Alaska ...