Water Quality – When are you going to see the report?
During the recent city council review of the Water System, we learned much about the city water system.
The city is divided into two Water Zones. Zone 1 includes Well 4 and Well 7. Zone 2 includes Well 6, and Well 8.
Well 4 is contaminated with Perchloroethylene, or aka tetrachlorethylene (Dry Cleaner); 157 million Gallons production.
• Granular Activated Carbon is being used to remove the tetrachloroethylene • Well 4 is scheduled to be replaced in FY 25-26 or 26-27 once reserves are reestablished and a loan can be secured • There is a question about the cost of replacing this well. Larry told us all that a settlement of a lawsuit would pay for the costs
Well 7 is contaminated with Arsenic; Production 86.5 million Gallons per year. • Uses a Packer Plug to limit certain layers of the well where arsenic is high. • The water is blended with Well 4 to “dilute” the arsenic levels Dante reported that they have an approved plan to install an arsenic treatment facility to the well if levels get higher. There has been no discussion of the cost or timeline for this project.
Well 6 is contaminated with Arsenic. Production of 26.5 million Gallons per year • Treatment is to blend the water with Well 8
Well 8 has no contaminates of concern but also has the lowest annual production of
44.5Million Gallons per year.
There are reasons to be concerned about water quality yet very little attention is paid to this issue. Dante said they test the wells regularly. But there is only report 1 time per year to the public.
The last report was in 2023 and only reported on the water quality of well 4, 7, and 8.
Well 6 is a source of arsenic contamination. Why was it not reported? I believe the council accepted this report as part of the consent calendar.
The council should be asking for more frequent reports on water quality tests on each well and the blended water being delivered in Zone on and Zone 2.
When will the city receive the “Consumer Confidence Report” (aka water quality report) for 2024? We are halfway through 2025.
Actions requested:
1. Create and agenda item to review water quality results for 2024 including the “Consumer Confidence Report” and more details on the water test results seen on each well during the year.
2. Questions could include:
a. Do contaminants like arsenic and dry-cleaning fluid vary seasonally? b. How are the numbers calculated in the annual report? Are they based on samples of each well or blended samples downstream?
c. Dante highlighted the need to reline one of the storage tanks. When will that become critical and need to be replaced
d. What water pressure issues would be created if there were a wildfire in or near the city boundary.
3. When will the Water Infrastructure study be reported to the City Council. It is a critical element of budget planning for next year? It is ongoing in theory, but the full costs of the study is also being shown in the draft FY25-26 budget. This project is more than a year old and still not delivered.