Bulk water exports from Sitka, Alaska to California to start this summer

A company that once operated a Sitka bottled-water plant but switched its focus to bulk exports says it has confirmed customers in drought-stricken California.

“The shipment of bulk water from Sitka will become reality this summer,” Alaska Bulk Water CEO Terry Trapp said in an email. “Our company has obtained contracts for the shipment of bulk water.”

While initial shipments will be to California, markets could expand, he said in the email. “The company has been in discussion with many of the water-stressed countries around the world and expects to begin international shipments in the near future as well,” he said.

Details about how the water would be delivered are yet unclear, but one option involves a combination of large, flexible bags and cargo-shipping containers.


The water comes from Blue Lake, a 6-mile-long body of water that also provides hydropower and drinking water to Sitka. The water is so abundant that household use is not metered, and so "clean in its natural state" that filtration is not required, according to the Sitka public works department's drinking water quality report. The local government has been working for years to commercialize that liquid asset.

http://www.adn.com/article/20150414/long-anticipated-bulk-water-exports-sitka-start-summer-businessman-says