Sitka’s artesian well will be getting an upgrade this fall. Starting in October, the US Forest Service will be installing a pump system to provide consistent flow and reduce waste. The one downside to the upgrade is that – strictly speaking – it won’t be an “artesian” well anymore.
USFS spokesperson Rebecca Peterman said that for years, users of the free-flowing water source have seen diminished and unreliable flow. Restoring flow requires costly maintenance every few years to remove buildup.
“The output has been decreasing for years,” Peterman said. “And several years ago, we went through sort of a refurbishment process and it improved things for a while, but then it declined again.”
The Sitka Ranger District started looking for a longer-term solution. They applied for funding through the Great American Outdoors Act and received $167,000 to cover design, permitting, and construction of a well pump.
The installation of a pump will mean that Sitka’s well will, technically, no longer be artesian.
“That’s what the artesian part of that means, that it’s just free flowing,” Peterman said.
Peterman said that the pump system will mean major benefits for users. Sitkans can expect higher flow rate and less waste, since the new spigots can be turned off.
“That’s another reason why we think that the pump is a good idea, because we’re basically pulling water out of the aquifer and then spilling it onto the ground,” she said. “So whatever people aren’t collecting is really just coming from our aquifer and becoming groundwater.“
She estimated that after renovations are complete, the water flow rate will increase from under a gallon per minute to about two gallons per minute. Some spigots will also be insulated, so users will be able to get water even when outside temperatures drop.
A Wasilla-based contractor, Eklutna Construction and Maintenance, designed the pump system and will be installing it.
“They are going to be doing that rehabbing of the well, they’re going to be adding the pump to the existing well casing,” Peterman said. “They’re going to be doing all new plumbing for that work, as well as electrical.”
Once work begins, the well will be shut off for at least a month, but it’s hard to estimate exactly how long the well will be inaccessible to users.
“We don’t really have a specific idea of the exact amount of time that they will need,” Peterman said. “It will really depend on how the process goes.”
Once the pump is constructed, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will have to recertify the well before it opens up to the public. The work is slated to start sometime in October. For more information, contact Rebecca Peterman at 907-747-4209.
