In the United States, Alaska has the highest proportion of homes lacking in-home water services. An added social component in rural Alaska is the observed preference for using water from traditional water collection methods for consumption, as opposed to treated water. Such traditional methods include collecting rainwater and water from nearby freshwater streams and packing ice (collecting ice during the winter). Understanding these preferences and what kinds of water systems best align with needs is a critical topic given the $20 million USD just made available by the Environmental Protection Agency to support the state of Alaska’s proposed plan for key drinking water projects. How to prioritize and allocate this funding will require better understanding the preferences of local constituencies for different water delivery mechanisms. This study seeks to explore what technical, economic, and social considerations drive people’s preferences for different methods of water provision in rural Alaska. This research focuses on a case study conducted in one village in rural Alaska where interviews were conducted with 5 end-users and 7 stakeholders. The interviews are analyzed using an inductive content analysis scheme. Findings for this case study indicate greater preference for traditional water collection methods due to esthetic concerns about treated water, namely the dislike for the taste of chlorine. Additionally interviews revealed valuing the traditional practices of collecting water for the attention and physical effort it requires. Conversely, end-users noted the appeal of using treated water for other household applications (e.g., showering, cleaning) due to its perceived unlimited volume and convenience. Outlining such preferences that end-users have for various systems can help decision-makers make better community-informed investments with the money received from the EPA for building new water delivery systems.