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Fall River water officials report strong supply, staffing shifts and lead service progress
Summary
Water department officials told the committee the city's ponds are in good condition, treatment staff levels are mostly filled, PFAS tests show non-detect or well below state limits, and a door-knock program will verify remaining unknown lead service lines.
Water department officials told the City Council Committee on Health and Environmental Affairs on Oct. 22 that Fall River’s water supply is in good condition, most treatment filters and staff are in place, and the city is advancing lead service line inspections under an EPA-supported effort.
Nut graf: Paul Furlan, administrator of community utilities, and Jim Carriault, president of the water board, provided the committee a quarterly update on pond levels, staffing, regulatory inspections and capital project grant applications. Councilors asked about staffing, PFAS testing, illegal dumping and the pace of lead service removal.
Furlan said the city’s reservoir ponds were at levels “very good places to be” for this time of year and that both ponds had a full ice cap. He reported the North Watuppa Pond was about "11.5 inches below full pond" and the South Watuppa Pond about "25.8 inches below full pond," and added the city had left gates open for recreational ice boating through the weekend. He told the committee there were no major issues with pumping stations or plant operations.
On staffing, Furlan said the treatment plant was "fully staffed" after recent turnover; two employees left and replacements or internal transfers were expected to start within a week. He said the water distribution division had three open laborer spots and one supervisor vacancy. Councilors pressed about pay competitiveness; Furlan estimated licensed operators' pay was roughly "5 to 7" (percent or thousands not specified in transcript) closer to peer communities and said nonlicensed laborers still lag private-sector pay.
On water quality and regulation, Furlan said Fall River has been "non detect on majority of the PFAS and well below the state limits" for regulated PFAS, and that EPA inspectors had conducted a visit and given a positive debrief; the department is awaiting the final report. The committee asked about illegal dumping; Furlan said past incidents were cleaned up promptly and had not affected the intake, which is screened and cleaned twice a year.
Lead service line work: Furlan reported the city had completed inspections for over 7,000 properties and still had about 6,000 service verifications to complete. He said the water department mailed roughly 7,000 letters on Nov. 15 (year in transcript unclear) and fielded 600–700 phone calls to schedule inspections. He said the EPA is providing staffing support to door-knock and verify unknown services, with teams accompanied by water department staff and leaving notices when residents are not home.
Capital projects and maintenance: Furlan said the department submitted applications to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) for roof and building work at a cold storage garage and at the north/south gatehouse near Route 24; the CPC had received many applications and decisions were pending.
Ending: The committee lifted the item from the table for the quarterly review and later tabled further action for the next quarter; staff offered to provide the EPA inspection report and to supply additional data on staffing and lead-service actions on request.
