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Fauquier Water & Sanitation Authority warns of moderate drought, PFAS treatment costs and seeks state funds
Summary
Ben Shoemaker, executive director of the Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority, updated the board on drought conditions, PFAS contamination levels in multiple wells, and the authority’s funding requests to state and federal programs to address treatment needs estimated at roughly $44.4 million.
Ben Shoemaker, executive director of the Fauquier County Water and Sanitation Authority, told the Board of Supervisors that the county remains in a moderate drought and that testing shows per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) above anticipated regulatory limits in a portion of the system’s supply wells.
Shoemaker said 16 of the authority’s groundwater wells test above the levels that will require mitigation and that those wells represent roughly 50% of the system’s capacity; he cited a high-level, countywide estimate of about $44.4 million to address treatment needs across affected systems. The authority has applied to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and said it has tentative principal-forgiveness offers that together total about $10 million so far, but the timing and final amounts are not yet finalized.
Shoemaker outlined two immediate operational concerns: the ongoing drought, which is already reducing groundwater yields in some wells, and the PFAS regulatory timeline. He said tests show that some wells that would require iron- and manganese-specific treatment also contain PFAS compounds; that overlap makes treatment more complex and costly. “We are stable from right now, but what this most likely means is that we’re going to have to forego irrigation in some systems this summer,” Shoemaker told the board.
He summarized the authority’s strategy. For New Baltimore, where legacy small wells and high iron/manganese coincide with PFAS detections, the authority studied alternatives and concluded a blended approach—retaining higher-quality local wells and wholesale-connecting (buying treated wholesale water) for the remainder—offers the lowest lifecycle cost. Shoemaker said the authority is pursuing SRF principal forgiveness and federal funding opportunities tied to the bipartisan infrastructure law to reduce the local cost burden.
Board members asked technical follow-ups about who will enforce ongoing maintenance agreements for alternative systems (county, health department or the authority), timelines for SRF grant agreement execution and whether targeted household filtration would be a viable stopgap; Shoemaker answered that SRF negotiations are ongoing and that federal and state rules require the water leaving a plant be compliant even if some users install point-of-use filters.
