NEAH BAY — A U.S. Navy water purification system arrived on the Makah reservation Monday to turn 100,000 gallons of salt water into fresh water daily.
The desalination plant will alleviate two weeks of restricted water use — including minimal toilet flushing — on the reservation at the northwest tip of the North Olympic Peninsula.
The unit arrived about 10 a.m. from Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, Calif., after a three-day truck trip.
Indian Health Services and the U.S. Army arranged the transport
“I can take longer showers now,” said Tribal Chairman Ben Johnson, laughing.
Diesel-powered system
The diesel-powered system is one of a pair designed by the Office of Naval Research for disaster responses, according to Matthew Martinson of the Indian Health Service in Portland.
The unit will remain at Coast Guard Station Neah Bay, removing salt from sea water and pumping fresh water into the reservation’s mains until rain refills the Waatch River and Educkett Reservoir.
Scanty rain and high visitor volume drew down the tribe’s water treatment facility to 625,000 gallons.
Less than a tenth of the reservation’s annual 105-inch rainfall normally falls during the summer, but this year it has totaled barely 2 inches.
Although the rainy season is about a month away, the Makah hope to complete an emergency water project by tapping into two Sooes River wells north of the reservation.
The wells can produce 200 gallons of fresh water per minute, although the limits of the aquifer is unknown.