Saying goodbye to honey buckets: the Village Safe Program brings modern sanitation and clean water supply facilities to rural Alaska communities.

• Author: Martin, Michelle J.
• Position: Alaska Native Business News

More than 20,000 rural residents in Alaska live in communities without running water, according to an assessment on village sanitation completed by the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology. Homes, local government offices, commercial buildings and medical clinics use plastic buckets for toilets--figuratively called honey buckets. The waste from these toilets is often spilled in the process of hauling it to disposal sites, and these spillages have led to the outbreak of epidemic diseases such as Hepatitis A, bronchitis, impetigo and meningitis.

Numerous reports, studies and press accounts have described the lack of modern sanitation and clean water supply facilities in rural villages in Alaska. Meeting basic sanitation needs in 270 Alaska rural communities has been a challenge. In 1994, an estimate of the number of homes in rural Alaska without potable water was 7,653; the number of homes without water and sewer was 8,366.

A SAFE ENVIRONMENT

In many villages, residents must haul water to their homes. A person needs approximately five gallons of safe water each day to meet drinking, cooking, hygiene, and domestic needs. Because 80 percent of all diseases in the developing world are caused by unsafe water and sanitation-related problems, access to clean, safe drinking water is a top priority. Due to a high need for housing in the villages, many homes are constructed without provision of safe running water, proper sewage disposal or adequate sanitation facilities available to connect to homes. Communities are often faced with having to make difficult decisions between adequate housing and adequate sanitation. Alaska's villages also face other tremendous challenges, including the lack of easy access, small populations and high turnover rates in utility operators.

Providing acceptable sanitation services is often a prerequisite to economic development and growth. It is difficult for villages lacking basic services to attract viable local industries or develop as a community. The full potential of eco-tourism may not be currently realized in rural Alaska because most travelers prefer visiting an area where safe drinking water and flush toilets are available. If villages had acceptable water and sewage systems, they could develop industries thereby bringing more jobs and a cash-economic base into their communities.

Many Alaska villages continue to need adequate sources of water that are safe to drink and facilities that can safely dispose of their...