Cal Water finds 22 Bakersfield water wells that may require treatment for ‘forever chemicals’
A preliminary assessment suggests nearly two dozen Bakersfield water wells suspected of containing harmful “forever chemicals” may have to be treated within five years to bring local taps served by California Water Service into compliance with new federal rules.
Expectations are that reverse osmosis or granular activated carbon will effectively remove the compounds known as PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — the local district manager for San Jose-based Cal Water said Monday. She had no estimate of how much money the work will cost customers.
Regulations finalized Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency require water utilities across the country to test and monitor drinking water sources for PFAS within three years. Any sources that test higher than 4 parts per trillion, for the most common PFAs, will have to be disclosed and relevant utilities will be given two additional years to install treatment systems.
The EPA says 6% to 10% of U.S. water systems will likely run afoul of what has become the first national standard for PFAS in drinking water. It says the regulation may ultimately prevent more than 10,000 deaths over a period of decades, while cutting exposure for 100 million people and reducing rates of cancers.
PFAS are believed to have entered local water systems through the use of common products like nonstick pans and firefighting foam. The compounds are water soluble and do not degrade.
Locations and contaminant readings of the 22 local water wells believed to have PFAS substances were not available. While each is believed to contain PFAs, all will have to be tested and monitored, along with every
other water well in the area, District Manager Tammy Johnson said.
Wells whose PFAS readings exceed 4 ppt will be subject to a design process in which Cal Water will determine whether there is enough room on-site to install treatment systems and appropriate vessels, Johnson added.
“If we have a source that exceeds the MCL (maximum contamination level), and can be taken out of service, we’ll take it out of service,” Johnson said.
“Our plan is to install treatment on all our affected sources,” she added. “Right now, we’re planning for about 22 well-site treatment systems,” she said.
It’s possible some of the 22 locations won’t be able to accommodate the treatment system deemed necessary, she said, in which case “we’ve got to go out and possibly find a new location.”
Cal Water, as Bakersfield’s largest water utility, delivers drinking water to about 290,000 people in Bakersfield through nearly 80,000 service connections.
The utility also serves the Kern River Valley with some 4,000 service connections, and a company spokeswoman said Cal Water has a few active water sources “that will currently need treatment” to comply with the new regulations. She said she did not know how many will need such work.
Cal Water said in a news release last week the company believes its subsidiaries across four states are well-positioned to treat “potentially impacted water sources” before the EPA’s deadline.
It said the utility has long supported EPA’s plans to establish a national drinking water standard for the most common PFAS, and that even though it didn’t put the contaminant in wells, “we are committed to treating it in accordance with all applicable regulations.”
Monitoring and treatment costs, estimated by the EPA to cost $1.5 billion per year across the country, may be offset by federal money and proceeds from lawsuits against chemical manufacturers including 3M, which has agreed to pay more than $10 billion to settle allegations related to PFAS.
Johnson said Cal Water is in the process of evaluating appropriate treatment technologies and designs for each of the 22 sites. She noted the plan is to rid wells of PFAS if they exceed the national standard.
“We’re treating to remove,” she said. “We’re not treating to reduce.”