Recent events in Flint, Michigan, bring to mind the importance of access to safe and reliable drinking water for everyone, whenever and wherever it is needed.
Anchorage is fortunate. Our principal municipal water sources are the pristine glaciers and snowcapped peaks of the Chugach Mountains. Protection of these watersheds as part of the Chugach State Park ensures exceptional water quality.
Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility processes 24 million gallons from these sources daily, on average, through our Eklutna and Ship Creek Water Treatment facilities. Additionally, Anchorage operates 10 active wells, boosting peak production to 64 million gallons per day, if necessary. The treatment process, continuously monitored by analysts and operational staff, ensures removal of any contaminants associated with the natural load of fine particulates in the source waters. AWWU is committed to delivering the highest quality water through source water protection, excellence in operations, state-of-the-art treatment and continuous monitoring. Our annual consumer confidence report summarizes information that demonstrates your drinking water meets all state and federal health-protective standards. A link to the 2015 Water Quality Reports (summarizing the most recent data available through 2014) is available from AWWU's home page at www.awwu.biz.
AWWU chemists and operators perform over 50,000 analyses annually to protect public health, including monitoring of trace metals, bacteria, and trace organics in source water, during the treatment process, and throughout the distribution system. Lead -- the contaminant that has been the center of controversy in Flint -- has never been detected in many years of annual monitoring of our source waters. In keeping with best practices dictated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, we also analyze for lead in tap water samples from over 60 residences at key locations throughout Anchorage and Girdwood.
In new data collected through our lead sampling program in Anchorage and Eagle River in 2015, 90 percent of the reported values were at or below 1.4 micrograms per liter, less than 10 percent of the federally mandated "action level" of 15 micrograms per liter, at which point further analysis is warranted. The 90-percent level was slightly higher in Girdwood at 2.0 micrograms per liter, still well below levels of concern.
But if there is no lead in the source water, how could it show up at a home faucet? In older cities, lead was commonly used in water supply piping. That practice ended in the 1930s, but lead was still used in solder for household plumbing joints until it was banned in 1986, due to health concerns. Water that sits for long periods in lead service lines, or is exposed to lead solder, can absorb -- or "leach" -- the metal from the household piping material into the water. The leaching can be exacerbated by warm water.
In Anchorage, to our knowledge, there are no lead service lines anywhere in our 850-mile network of water transmission and distribution piping. Most of our housing stock in Anchorage is relatively new, such that the potential for exposure of drinking water to lead in household plumbing is very low. This conclusion is verified by the data we have been collecting regularly since 1991, in keeping with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
Although the possibility that Anchorage tap water might leach significant quantities of lead from household plumbing is remote, you may want to let your tap flow for 30 seconds to 2 minutes prior to drinking to obtain the freshest cool water from the distribution system. Anchorage has just about the best-tasting municipal water anywhere. You might as well take advantage of this most precious resource at its best without tastes affected by household plumbing.
AWWU is continually working to maintain and enhance not only the quality of water, but the reliability of delivering water to your tap, at your convenience, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Even in the aftermath of the recent magnitude-7.1 earthquake, service was maintained without interruption to every one of our 56,000 customer accounts. Our sophisticated condition assessment program helps us understand what parts of our system are most likely to fail due to effects of corrosion, so that we can plan for timely repairs and replacements as part of our $65 million annual capital improvement programs for water and wastewater.
Our attention to maintaining high levels of service in terms of water quality and infrastructure have gained national recognition. In 2015, AWWU earned one of only eight Platinum Awards for Utility Excellence from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.
Infrastructure costs account for roughly 40 percent of your monthly water and sewer bill. Our most recent audited financial statements are available on our website. We strive to maintain responsible financial reporting, so as to clearly demonstrate that AWWU is investing to ensure reliable service, safeguard public health, and protect the environment, long into the future.
J. Brett Jokela, P.E., is general manager of Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility.
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