Source Drinking Water Challenges Resulting from Changes To an Arctic Tundra Lake

This paper reports on a special concern identified in Point Hope, Alaska during a recent Climate Change Assessment: disruption of drinking water treatment caused by temperature driven increases in organic material in an Arctic tundra lake. Blooms of organic material have in the past been observed in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Michael Brubaker, Alicia Rolin, Jacob Bell, John Warren
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.489.203
http://www.anthc.org/chs/ces/climate/upload/CCH-Bulletin-No-02-edited-07-23.pdf
Description
Summary:This paper reports on a special concern identified in Point Hope, Alaska during a recent Climate Change Assessment: disruption of drinking water treatment caused by temperature driven increases in organic material in an Arctic tundra lake. Blooms of organic material have in the past been observed in the source water lake in Point Hope, but conditions have been extreme over the past two years. If warm temperatures continue, organic blooms will become a reoccurring problem for Point Hope and other communities that depend on tundra lakes for their drinking water supply. Analysis of source water chemistry and biology is recommended, as is an analysis of possible adaptive operational procedures or design modifications that could improve water system efficiency.