WESTON, WI (WSAU) — A second sample from the Weston Water Utility’s number 3 and 4 wells have come back with PFAS levels significantly lower than previous readings, leading the village to put off action on installing temporary filtration at their drinking water treatment plant.
Public Works Director Michael Wodalski says the most recent numbers showed water from those wells at well below the 20 parts per trillion mark. “Well 3 is at 10.87, or a hazard index of .7 and well 4 is at 7.24 with a hazard index of .45,” said Wodalski.
Previously both wells had shown a hazard index of above 1.0 with PFAS levels between 17 and 38 PPT, which prompted them to take the wells offline to keep them from having to issue a drinking water advisory. Wodalksi says the most recent samples came after the wells had been turned off, then back on for a sampling. “We pumped them for about a half-hour to make sure we had flow, cleared out, and to make sure we were pulling from the same aquifer. Their only thought is maybe we didn’t run long enough. So they told us to put them back online, run them, and then resample to see if that was a difference or not.”
The utility did open a bid for $109,750 to install a temporary filtration system at the drinking water treatment plant. Wodalski noted that would also come with a monthly rental fee.
Administrator Keith Donner admitted that the lower numbers were “a new wrinkle” that leaders weren’t expecting when the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting was put together. The board took no action on the matter, noting that they can come back in late May for a special meeting if the next round of testing does come back high.
Wodalksi says with the new numbers he does feel confident that the previous samples were an anomaly because testing that was conducted in the mid-2010s that showed all the wells were fine. He says the most recent numbers looked more like those numbers taken in 2014 and 15 than the numbers that showed elevated levels, which were taken earlier this year.
Wodalski added that the bid for the temporary filtration is good for 60 days.
Village leaders had asked the utility to look into temporary filtration if the wells that had been shut down would need to be brought back online this summer when water use would peak thanks to customers watering their lawns or filling their backyard pools.
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