Decatur Utilities to pilot full-scale PFAS treatment, staff to seek $1.5M ADEM loan

Decatur Utilities plans to run a full-scale, on-site pilot test of PFAS treatment technologies at its raw water treatment plant and will ask council next week to authorize a professional services agreement and a loan application. Tom Cleveland, water resource manager for Decatur Utilities, told the City Council work session that the utility completed a laboratory bench-scale, phase 1 treatability study in late 2024 and is now proposing a phase 2 on-site pilot with Jacobs Engineering at a cost of $1,132,000. Cleveland said the phase 1 study cost $360,000 and the proposed phase 2 pilot would be funded by an Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan of $1,500,000 that, he said, is "100% principal forgiven," meaning "there's no repayment." Cleveland added the loan would allow Decatur Utilities to recoup the phase 1 cost. The presentation tied the pilot work to new federal rules: "In April of 2024, EPA announced national primary drinking water standards for several PFAS compounds," Cleveland said. He noted current regulatory limits for two widely discussed PFAS compounds: "PFOA and PFOS is 4 parts per trillion," and added that the prior federal guidance had been a nonbinding public-health advisory of "70 parts per trillion." Cleveland said the pilot study is expected to take 15 to 18 months and that the information would be used "to select an appropriate treatment technology should one be needed to comply with future regulatory requirements." He reiterated that Decatur Utilities "is and remains in full compliance with all national primary drinking water standards, including those for PFAS compounds." At the work session the item appeared on the agenda as Resolution 25,169 to approve the expenditure and as Resolution 25 170 to authorize the utilities general manager to file the ADEM loan application. Council discussion at the work session was limited to questions and clarification; no formal vote on the resolutions was recorded at the session. The resolutions are slated for consideration at next week's regular council meeting. The utility did not present a final selection of a treatment technology at the work session, and Cleveland said the pilot study results would inform any future selection or capital project if federal rules require additional treatment. Next steps: Council is expected to consider the resolutions authorizing the Jacobs contract and the ADEM loan application at the upcoming council meeting.