WASILLA — Most of the schools in the fastest-growing part of Alaska rely on wells rather than municipal water systems.
Several schools in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District experienced boil-water notices this year triggered by isolated spikes in bacteria or lead. None led to reports of health problems.
There is no one connected reason for the water issues, district officials say — except they all involve wells.
"That water has its own characteristics, its own challenges," said Jim Estes, the district's facilities manager.
Growing amid unmet needs
Mat-Su is still growing, unlike most parts of Alaska. But infrastructure like utilities and roads isn't necessarily keeping up.
The school district had to install a 210,000-gallon water tank at the new Redington school campus out Knik-Goose Bay Road to comply with fire code, officials say. They also had to extend telecommunications, three-phase power and natural gas to the site.
Mat-Su school officials say they're trying to get out ahead of the challenge of operating a growing district — almost 300 more students are predicted for next year — under the constraints of older or finicky water systems.
The biggest parental concern officials hear about is lead, they say. That's at least in part due to a public health crisis that developed in Flint, Michigan, in 2015 after the city failed to add anti-corrosion agents to a new water source, causing aging service lines to leach the potentially toxic metal.
For the first time, the Mat-Su district plans to send educational fliers to families at schools served by wells to explain how the district monitors water quality under Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation regulations and responds to any issues, said Mike Brown, executive director of district operations.
"We're trying to work through the perception that the infrastructure is failing, the water's not safe. That's not what's happening," Brown said. "What's happening is we're being overly cautious to make sure we don't have an incident. Everybody, after the Flint, Michigan, deal, is very sensitive. DEC is sensitive. We're sensitive."
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More wells
Mat-Su relies on wells more than any other similar district in the state with a mix of urban and far-flung remote sites.
Schools that operate their own wells fall under state testing requirements for bacteria, lead and other potential health hazards. The district monitors multiple locations at different schools through an independent contractor.
If a reading is off and can't be fixed immediately, the district puts a school on a boil-water order and brings in water dispensers until the problem is fixed, Brown said. That brings grumbles from school staff and parents sometimes.
"It is frustrating. We get it's a disruption," he said. "But we're not taking any chances."
Just four of the 33 schools in the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District are on wells. Three of the 10 schools in the Yukon-Koyukuk district are.
And two of those wells are often a source of trouble, Yukon-Koyukuk Superintendent Kerry Boyd said.
One in Manley needs continuous monitoring for arsenic, Boyd said. And in Allakaket, a village of about 100 people on the Koyukuk River, a shallow well needs constant monitoring and an 800-foot section of line tends to freeze in winter.
The first year Boyd was superintendent — about 10 years ago — the well went dry, she said.
"So we had no water to the school. We were literally completely out of water."
Then again, the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District relies on wells at 13 schools and municipal water at 17 others.
On the Kenai at least, municipal systems are also susceptible to issues that prompt boil-water orders, according to Julie Cisco, the district's director of planning and operations.
Every system is prone to the same challenges, Cisco said, whether it's sediment from an earthquake or a red flag on monitoring results after a school sits largely unused all summer without water circulating from "300 littles flushing."
Kenai has had two boil-water orders in the past few months, she said. Both involved municipal systems.
Different flags, different fixes
The Mat-Su schools that experienced recent water issues did so for different reasons, according to an email from Brown.
At Big Lake Elementary, a frozen water supply line once thawed would have required disinfecting the entire domestic water and fire suppression system that includes a 20,000-gallon tank located under the school gym. Officials decided to supply water for the 37 days remaining in the school year, then disinfect the system.
At John Shaw Elementary, depressurization of the water system during routine water filtration maintenance led to elevated coliform levels. The school remained on a boil-water notice for several weeks until the system was chlorinated and tested.
At Tanaina Elementary, a faucet at a little-used library sink exceeded the lead action level in 2016. The fixture was taken out of service and families were notified as required. Officials retested the sink before allowing its use again and are now required to monitor more often.
Similar exceedances, all involving one fixture, have occurred at Glacier View and Houston middle schools.
District operations officials are asking the Mat-Su school board to move $290,000 from the operations budget to the capital side to fix the Big Lake Elementary system. The money would allow the district to separate domestic and fire suppression systems to simplify water maintenance and reduce potential for cross-contamination that exists now. The request is on the calendar for the board's June 7 meeting.
Without the funding, the district will still fix the system but the school remains at risk for future problems, Estes said.
Overall, the district is trying to be proactive about water systems and staying ahead of major problems, he said. Both Estes and Brown have children in Mat-Su schools.
"This is one of those things that could keep you awake at night if you weren't doing the right thing," Estes said.