Kaktovik's do-not-drink notice stays until sharper lab results arrive

The Do Not Drink the Water notice remains in effect until officially lifted. Residents are still told to use another source for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, making ice and other consumption uses. The water may still be used for showering, dishes and laundry.

Drinking water is available at the Kaktovik Water Treatment Plant, along with bottled water, 5-gallon jugs and water-truck delivery. The plant's nanofiltration and reverse-osmosis system is producing potable water, and the truck is approved to distribute it. Anyone worried about exposure can be evaluated at the Kaktovik Medical Clinic.

The emptied North Tank is scheduled to begin refilling Friday through the pipeline from the lake. The borough's incident management team says that may take about a week, depending on weather.

Samples collected Sept. 14 are at the laboratory, being analyzed with lower detection limits. Results are pending. The previous round didn't clear the water: Sept. 7 samples showed no glycol above the lab's detection limits, but those limits were too coarse to rule out the 26 mg/L found earlier.

The order dates to Sept. 5, when testing found ethylene glycol — an antifreeze compound that boiling will not remove — in the village water supply. The borough later traced it to a mislabeled chemical container used at the treatment plant in August. State health officials said the measured level isn't a known acute risk for adults, but it exceeded drinking water guidance, which is why the notice was issued.

The contaminated South Tank was isolated and the village supplied from the North Tank, which the borough believed was unaffected. Glycol reached the distribution system anyway. A failed heat exchanger tied to the North Tank has since been removed from the potable water system.