In March, Redding was testing its water supply as part of a federal effort to gather information about unregulated contaminants. A group of chemicals known as PFAS were discovered. PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. These chemicals stay in the environment for a very long time, and are linked to negative health effects including cancer.
But, on Tuesday, Redding’s Water Utility Manager Josh Watkins said the data doesn’t tell the whole story.
“They essentially all came from one particular well site," he said. "And so once we confirmed that these were accurate, then we immediately took that well out of production. And so it’s offline and it’s not producing water for the city right now.”
Watkins said that the well has not been used since it was taken offline in September.
“We’re trying to figure out what the source of the PFAS detection at that well is," Watkins said. "Because it’s not near any industry, it’s not near our airport.”
The most dangerous PFAS chemicals have mostly been voluntarily phased out, according to the EPA. However, because of their nature, these chemicals remain in the environment. One ongoing use of PFAS chemicals is in firefighting foam used at airports.
Watkins said they test for extremely small levels of these chemicals. In this instance, the contamination could have been from a small piece of plastic or Teflon tape that fell off from the well’s pump.
This specific well is also just one small part of where they city gets its water. Watkins says it produces around 300 gallons per minute, while the city's other wells produce 1,000-2,000 gallons per minute. Plus, most of the city's water comes from the Sacramento River and Whiskeytown Lake, not from groundwater wells.
Watkins said the city continues to test regularly for dangerous chemicals, and the city’s water supply is safe for residents.
