Anchorage Daily News

FAIRBANKS -- The state is recommending that customers of a North Pole utility boil their water before drinking it or cooking with it.

Affected are about 60 homes with service from the Valley Water Co., which also has proposed a controversial plan prohibiting daytime lawn watering and other outdoor water activities. The boil water notice does not apply to others among the utility's 300 customers, but the water curtailment plan does.

State regulators also are scrutinizing the utility's books.

Regulators want to know why Valley Water is paying more than $10,000 a month to First National Bank of Alaska for consolidated loans.

The problems come four months after Valley Water nearly had its power shut off until a group of customers paid the utility's $11,000 overdue bill.

The boil water notice was issued Thursday because of low water pressure. The utility is not meeting the minimum standard of 20 pounds per square inch, said to Mike Jaynes of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

"If they can't make that pressure, there's a potential for a back flow," he said. "That could cause potential contamination."

To that regard, Mark Still, whose parents own Valley Water, is installing a new water pump.

Jaynes said the boil water notice is in effect until the water pressure is increased and a water sample tests clean.

The water restriction plan was noted in the May water bill. Under the plan, outdoor water use would be limited to 10 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Lawn watering would be limited to three or four days a week, depending on whether addresses end in an even number or an odd number.

Customers are upset, particularly those who helped bail out the utility in February.

"This is a slap in the face," said Brooke Cacy, who led the effort.

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska called for the water restriction plan following complaints from customers about water pressure.

Still said the utility doesn't like the plan any more than its customers.

The regulatory commission also wants to know why the company is saddled with so much debt.

The loan payments are for money used to enhance the water system, according to Still.

"It wasn't like it was a personal loan that we took out so we could go to Fiji," he said. "It was to better the system."

State regulators have asked Valley Water's bank to produce loan documentation.

Earlier this year, the commission authorized the utility to raise rates by 23 percent.

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