Fort Yukon says manganese and iron have made its water brown and unsafe for infants

Fort Yukon's water has had high levels of manganese and iron for more than a month, turning it brown and making it unsafe for infants, the city has told the State Emergency Operations Center.

The state recorded the city's account in its daily situation report Monday.

Tanana Chiefs Conference has sent 24 cases of bottled water, and a nearby radar site has opened up as a source of safe drinking water, the report says.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation's drinking water program and a Tanana Chiefs Conference remote maintenance worker are providing technical help.

The report gives no test results, so it's not clear how high the levels are.

Federal health guidance singles out babies when it comes to manganese. Young infants may absorb more of it and excrete less, and formula contains more manganese than breast milk, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory. For babies younger than 6 months, the EPA advises staying under 0.3 milligrams per liter even over a span of 10 days. Otherwise, its short-term advisory level is 1 milligram per liter.

Under the EPA's non-enforceable guidelines for taste and appearance, manganese can turn water black to brown at 0.05 milligrams per liter, and iron can turn it rusty at 0.3.

Fort Yukon's public water system serves about 650 people through 287 home connections and draws from two wells, according to the state's Drinking Water Watch database. The system's public list of tested substances doesn't include manganese or iron.

The state's report doesn't say what caused the change or when it might be fixed.