Thursday, Jan 20 2011 1:49PM
The 68 households in Goodnews Bay, Alaska now have running water, flush toilets and hot showers.
Residents of Goodnews Bay, an Alaskan community located at the edge of the Bering Sea, finally have running water after 10-year project by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, according to the Alaska Journal.
Construction of a water and sewage system for the rural village of 68 households, including a water treatment plant and distribution center, spanned a decade because it had to be completed in segments due to funding challenges, said the newspaper. Matt Dixon, the director of operations for the Division of Environmental Health and Engineering, a part of the ANTHC, said the project installed running water, flush toilets and hot showers for the first time ever in Goodnews Bay.
"It's pretty exciting to see it because it does take so long," Dixon told the paper.
Thirty years ago, about 75 percent of rural Alaskan households did not have running water, while today that same percentage now has access to clean water, reported the Alaskan Journal. However, in a recent interview with the Alaska Public Radio Network, a representative of the Department of Environmental Conservation admitted that there are still 45 villages in rural areas of the state that do not have basic sanitation systems.