The city of Pico Rivera, California, recently took the wraps off a new water treatment plant that promises to significantly improve the quality of life for its 62,000 residents. The new filtration system is designed to block harmful chemicals that have been an issue with the city's water supply for decades.
"Everyone deserves access to safe drinking water," Rep. Linda Sánchez told Southern California News Group. "We worked tirelessly at the local and federal levels, including securing $2.5 million in federal funds, to keep this vital project moving forward. This state-of-the-art facility will now thoroughly treat our water, eliminate forever chemicals, and ensure that our community has clean water for generations."
The area had once been home to industrial operations that resulted in pollution of the groundwater. This left behind per- and polyfluoroalkyl, or PFAS, chemicals in the water. These are known more commonly as "forever chemicals" because they stick around for hundreds or thousands of years before breaking down. Ingesting PFAS chemicals has been linked to cancer, asthma, drops in fertility, and thyroid disease.
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Southern California isn't the only region to suffer from drinking water pollution, either. New Jersey and the Great Lakes region are also subject to above-average PFAS presence in their tap water.
Water treatment that targets forever chemicals is challenging due to their sheer variety. Activated charcoal is a common material used to stop PFAS chemicals from getting into our bodies, and it can block up to 87% of them in a cost-effective way.
The technology does require upfront investment, so it's great to see federal funding available to make projects like Pico Rivera's a reality.
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"The health and wellness of our residents is of the utmost importance to our Administration," said City Manager Steve Carmona on the new facility. "We took immediate action and we were able to complete this water project for the benefit of our residents."
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