I-Quad

Sometimes some of the most very important people in a community aren’t recognised.

No, it’s not a milk truck. It isn’t a gasoline or petrol truck. It’s a water truck. About 1/2 to 2/3 of the city gets purified water delivered by truck. Houses have 550 gallon or larger water tanks inside. A small pump circulates the water to the sinks and bath.

What comes in must go out. This other truck evacuates the septic tank under the houses which holds grey water and black water. The tank has to be plugged in the night before water/sewer day so it thaws out. The “suck truck” then unloads into the sewer lagoon on the edge of town.

What keeps the drivers from mixing up the trucks and hoses?

These men and women work all days of the year, warm and cold. Sometimes the trucks get stuck in snowdrifts.

So next time you turn on a tap or flush the toilet, think about all the work that it takes for that to happen in Alaska!

Do you know how the water gets to your tap?

Where does the water come from?