I used to regularly get water here.
The curious popularity of a water pipe on the Seward Highway
A trickle from the rocks at Mile 109 draws people who like its taste and like the fact that it’s not treated city tap water. But is it safe?
A 3-inch hole in a rock wall at Mile 109 of the Seward Highway quenches many thirsts.
Tourists pull over for a cup of refreshing liquid Alaska, wild and cold. Locals, suspicious of treated city water, make the drive regularly to resupply their homes, even though there’s less known about this source of water than the water from their sinks. Others simply prefer the taste of the water that trickles there, supplemental hydration they take away one Nalgene bottle at a time.
This drainage hole in the rock between Beluga Point and Windy Corner on Turnagain Arm draws visitors all day long. Anyone who has driven the highway with any regularity has seen them, perhaps wondered why, and maybe had to brake for them as they dart across the road. …
Mica Sexton pulled up next. … People are too trusting of the government and media, he said. Fluoride is one reason, he said, that he “won’t touch” tap water.
“I think most people, when you tell them that somebody that they trust to look out for their good is putting something bad in their water, most people just look at you and tell you you need a tinfoil hat,” Sexton said.
Sexton said he also suspects city water treatment removes healthy minerals he believes he’s getting from this large drinking straw poked into the Chugach Mountains. …
…Alaska Dispatch News collected a sample and delivered it to ARS Aleut Analytical….
In short, all categories fell within the maximum contaminant limits set for drinking water by Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation. At least they did that day. ARS Aleut Analytical lab manager Ian Schacht said that a water quality test is just a snapshot of one point in time, which can’t replace regular monitoring. Results could fluctuate for many reasons.