New temporary staff hired for Wrangell water plant

Staff numbers have been boosted for Wrangell’s ailing water treatment plant this summer in an effort to keep up with increased demand.

Sedimentation has built up over the life of the 18-year-old plant’s slow sand filtration system, an increasing weight on efficiency, which last summer resulted in an emergency shortage of treated water. Measures to curb Wrangell’s usage were taken as a result, causing some disruption to the water-intensive seafood processors’ seasonal operations.

Public Works director Amber Al-Haddad explained the plant was poorly suited to Wrangell’s water supply from the star...