Vic Kelson, executive director of The Evansville Water and Sewer Utility, dropped a 24-million gallon announcement on the Evansville Rotary Club luncheon attendees on Tuesday.
They are temporarily halting planning on the $260 million hybrid water treatment plant which had been in process for years, and for which were about to solicit construction bids.
On Tuesday Kelson announced they were pausing that plan to investigate a brand new approach in light of impending government regulations.
He says by 2029, water utilities need to be able to filter out PFAS, that harmful chemical that used to be found in regular household items, which exists in actionable levels in the current water source of the Ohio River.
“So where else can we look for drinking water? We can look in the ground,” he said, referring to a new test well drilled near his office. “We pumped this well for 24 hours and had it sampled, and the standard sampling for PFAs chemicals samples for about 40 of them, 39 of them were ‘non detect,’ and only one of them was above the detection limit, but just barely.”
The well yielded 24 million gallons in that time. This might make groundwater a more affordable option as a drinking water source. It could save upwards of $50 million on a new plant, lower costs and maybe water rates in the future.
The current water plant plan has no way to filter PFAS, save for adding a $100 million dollar system ontop of the $260 million dollar plan, plus annual activated charcoal replacements.
“So the long- term viability of an aquifer like that is promising. The other cities along the river — Madison, New Albany and so forth, they're on wells,” he said, adding that Cincinnati and Louisville are also utilizing wells.
This plan could save a lot of money on construction, reduce water rate increases and facilitate PFAS filtering. The idea wouldn’t be to abandon the Ohio River, but to diversify water sources.
“Likely 3-6 months will be needed to make a decision about the groundwater option,” Kelson said via email. “We will be moving forward for work on the south plant that is needed regardless of which option is selected before the end of 2024. We expect to begin the other work, either for the surface water or the groundwater option, in 2025.”
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