Nobody wants contaminated drinking water. However, in the rush to provide the North side with water, the Westfield may be making a costly mistake in the attempt to remove PFOS and PFOA from the water in the North side wells. The Public Works Dept. have decided on granular activated carbon as the method to absorb the PFOS & PFOA from the drinking water. This decision was based on a bench top trial utilizing 150 gallons of contaminated well water in a controlled laboratory environment. These results are very encouraging, but, are not a conclusive remedy for treating the water.
The laboratory water was obtain by a single draw, after the flushing of approximately 400,000 gallons of well water. Composite sampling over a period of a week would have given a “true” average of the contaminates in the water. The 150 gallons was a glimpse in time, not a scientific sampling.
From this data, the city Public Works made the decision to move from a bench top design, to a 2 million gallons per day system utilizing granulated activated carbon (GAC). Activated carbon has been employed for years as a means of removing impurities. However, its application to remove the PFOS and PFOA contaminates is relativity new and has limited success, and some failures.
On May 22, a City Hall meeting regarding the GAC system was held. The engineering and manufacturing firm, CDM Smith, was present. When questioned by city council members, the representative of the CDM Smith indicated there will be No Guarantee for the removal of the contaminates. CDM Smith is on the cutting edge of water treatment technology, and is well respected in the water industry. They wrote the book on water treatment. If CDM Smith will not give a guarantee to the removal of the contaminates, then common sense indicates “this maybe a financial risk to the city of Westfield”.
The emotion of “We have to do something!” is clouding sound judgement. This contamination is a difficult problem to solve, and will be with the city for decades to come. No one knows what other contaminates will be presenting themselves in the future. We only know what is in the water based upon the most current sampling. There are other potential contaminates such as iron, and hydrocarbons (fuel oil) which was burned in the pit at Barnes for the firefighting training. These contaminates can plug the carbon vessels and dramatically reduce the life of the carbon. The Public Works director claimed that this is best technology for the city. Maybe. Is he risking city money by fully jumping in with an unproven system? I think so. What happens if he is wrong and the project fails? He will retire, and the city will pay for him and the bond for years to come. Who does the city go to recover cost of a failure? Use a mirror.
What is the rush? There is No legal mandate to treat the water. The city has been issued only a health advisory. This legality may change in the future, but no one knows what will happen in Washington DC. Many of the EPA mandates issued during Obama have been rescinded under Trump.
It would be in the city’s best interest to delay this project until the performance of the temporary single column vessel has been confirm at well 2. A year’s worth of data should confirm the success of the treatment with GAC (granulated activated carbon). Use well 2 as the “Pilot Plant” to develop the needed performance and operating data. This approach will provide treated water to the North side and will prove to the rate payer that the technology works, or not.
Please call your city councilor to vote no for the bond to protect your money, and to ensure the removal process will be properly engineered for the years to come.
Scott Kaddy
Chemical Engineer, 33 years of Industrial water treatment experience
