CFPUA to remove water with GenX stored in aquifer

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority plans to remove millions of gallons of treated drinking water from an aquifer where it’s been stored.

CFPUA says it will remove 48 million gallons of water out of the Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well on Westbrook Ave because it was treated and stored while Chemours was still discharging GenX into the Cape Fear River.

“CFPUA has decided it is in the best interest of our customers to withdraw that water from the aquifer,” the utility said in information released as part of CFPUA Board Chair Mike Brown’s regular updates this week.

The utility says tests show that the water in the ASR is below the GenX health goal of 140 parts per trillion (ppt) set by the NC Department of Health and Human Services, but it is above the average levels that CFPUA is currently supplying to its customers.

CFPUA plans to start withdrawing the water in early September. It will be discharged to the sewer system, and returned to the river downstream of all drinking water intakes.