H2GO pumping PFAS

LELAND — More taps in the Cape Fear are running free from industrial contaminants, but the gradual move to PFAS-free water has come with some kinks along the way.

READ MORE: H2GO to flush system and deliver RO-treated water to customers

ALSO: H2GO says PFAS-free aquifer plant will be up and running by next year

H2GO, the water authority serving 40,000 customers in the Leland and Belville areas, began pumping water from its new aquifer-sourced, reverse osmosis-treated facility at the end of May. On Aug. 8, it announced it had finished flushing the former Cape Fear River-sourced water from its lines.

The project, initially conceived in 2012, faced setbacks due to pandemic-era supply chain issues. The plant became a political football over the years and ran into equipment problems as it was on the runway to completion earlier this year. In January, a 24-inch transmission line was damaged and in April a pair of pump motors failed during a performance test.

Reverse osmosis — an effective means to clear the contaminants — was the plan for the new facility in 2012 to remove brackish qualities from the aquifer supply. The finished water met all state safety standards when results were returned on June 21 free of PFAS. Walker noted the authority also balances the pH of the water, whereas many bottlers do not.

The authority has received a handful of complaints about the taste of the water.

H2GO spokesperson Stephanie Blair said it is normal for customers who have become accustomed to buying filtered water from stores to be more sensitive to residual chlorinated taste in tap water.

“There’s a lot of questions as to exactly what’s in our water because people are resistant and careful with that trust, so we get down to the nitty gritty with test results and explanations as to what’s in the water,” Blair said.

H2GO tested for 40 PFAS analytes; its latest test results on the aquifer source are posted here.

The state requires public water to be treated with a disinfectant, typically chlorine-based, in very small concentrations. The latest update from H2GO notes typical household filters like Brita pitchers can remove any residual disinfectant flavor.

A challenge, beyond making these projects come to fruition, is making customers aware of them and trusting the results.

Lisa Fial, an H2GO customer and Leland resident, said she is glad the new facility is working after six years of only drinking and cooking with reverse osmosis-filtered water purchased from a grocery store. She is using the tap water to rinse produce and her husband makes his coffee with it now as well. Fial said she plans to transition to using more tap water but needs time.

“I feel like I still want a few months of just running that water through the lines,” Fial said.

For H2GO’s part, it conducted an “aggressive and robust flushing program,” from late May through Aug. 8, with crews flushing 200 miles of distribution lines. When flushing began, the authority advised the procedure would “will likely cause pressure fluctuations and temporary water quality issues.”

Fial is being cautious before making the switch entirely to tap water in the hopes any possible remaining contamination will be flushed out of the line running to her home. Her family also intends to do its own testing of the water passing through their taps to double check it’s PFAS-free.

Eventually, Fial hopes to save the money and effort spent on purchasing retail water, but she and her husband filled another 7 gallons at a store Thursday to use at home.

Getting the word out about the new facilities is a challenge in its own. When Port City Daily posted to the popular Friends of Brunswick County Facebook page to seek comments for this story, it garnered a mix of skeptical and positive feedback. Several people did not know the new facility is operational.

Blair told Port City Dailiy that H2GO has purchased local ad space to better communicate its reverse osmosis treatment. The facility has also received media coverage from news resources but has not planned any public events at the facility yet.

Across the river, another water utility has been continuing its messaging and public awareness since last fall. It’s been 10 months since Cape Fear Public Utility Authority has begun filtering PFAS at Sweeney Water Treatment Plant.

CFPUA hosted a media event last October when the results at Sweeney came back clean. It, too, has purchased local ads and sent a letter to customers in its service area.

As recently as May, CFPUA spokesperson Cammie Bellamy spoke to customers at a local resource fair who were unaware the authority is removing PFAS from its Cape Fear River-sourced water and continue to be skeptical after the years-long wake of the contamination scandal.

PFAS are often called “forever chemicals” due to their inability to break down in the environment. They have been flowing in in the river for decades due to Chemours, a chemical plant in Fayetteville, dumping the toxins; it was first discovered in 2017.

H2GO’s project — which carried a $42 million price tag but did not require a rate increase — is expected to be followed by more clean water efforts in the area. Brunswick County’s reverse osmosis upgrades at its Northwest Water Treatment Plant are under way and slated to wrap late this year.

Meanwhile, Pender County has secured $73.75 million over the last few years to build its own reverse osmosis plant.

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