Skagway water in a jar. (Mike Swasey)

A recent routine test of Skagway’s tap water showed some impurities were present. So the public works department cleaned out the town’s holding tanks and added chlorine to treat the water.

Skagway’s water supply is fed by four wells that tap into an underground aquifer. The water is then pumped into holding tanks near the head of the Dewey Lakes trail system. Those tanks get cleaned out at least once a year by public works.

Skagway resident Ken Graham says he’s visited places in the U.S. where they recommend you don’t drink the tap water, but he says Skagway’s water is consistently excellent.

“I think it’s some of the best water in the world,” said Graham.

During a recent routine water test, however, one of the samples came back positive for coliforms. This is the third year in a row coliform contamination has been found. In reports from 2019 and 2020, the violations were explained by errors in testing protocols or low usage due to a decrease in visitors and seasonal residents.

This year’s results prompted public works to clean out the town’s water tanks, which hadn’t been done yet this year, then they shocked the system with chlorine. That happened on Tuesday. 

Coliforms are bacteria that are found in the digestive tracts of humans and animals and can be found in their waste. They can also be found in plants and soil. If ingested in large enough quantities coliforms can lead to gastrointestinal issues, and in the case of E. coli,  serious complications can arise. Cases of illness caused by drinking water, however, have become quite rare since water utilities started using chlorine treatments to kill the bacteria.

Chlorine is added to the water supply to keep coliforms from being active in the water. The chemical is the industry standard used in municipalities nationwide.

Skagway officials said in an email to KHNS that the chlorine concentration they use is typically between .25 parts per million and .5 parts per million though occasionally can be higher. They also said they won’t ever exceed 4 parts per million. That’s the highest amount allowable while still remaining safe to consume according to the EPA. 

Typically Skagway’s water is delivered to homes untreated but when treatments are made, the chlorine taste and smell in the water will affect some portions of the town more than others. Officials say it’s difficult to pinpoint which areas will have a more noticeable presence.

Some residents on the north end of town may have noticed chlorine in their water during the State Street utility upgrade project earlier this year, as it was added to help control coliforms that may have been released during the project.

There were no other violations found in the drinking water reports from 2019 and 2020, this year’s report has yet to be published.