Kalispell staff recommend new wells at Knopfzinger Springs and Drybridge Park to replace PFAS‑affected Grandview, Armory sources

Kalispell City Council held a work session on Jan. 27, 2025, to review a preliminary engineering report (PER) addressing PFAS detections in the municipal water system and to consider long‑term replacement options for the Grandview and Armory wells.

The PER, presented by Brad Koenig, group manager for RPA, and Susie Turner, Director of Public Works, recommended replacing the Grandview source in the upper pressure zone with a Knopfzinger Springs well complex and replacing the Armory well in the lower zone with new wells at Drybridge Park. The preliminary project cost shown in the presentation was $17,950,000. Staff said they will submit the PER to the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and pursue emerging‑contaminant grant funding and State Revolving Fund (SRF) resources for design and construction.

Why it matters: The city installed a temporary treatment unit at the Grandview wells in October 2024 to meet the EPA drinking‑water rule and remove detected PFAS; the PER lays out options for a permanent, sustainable solution and the estimated schedule and costs for building new sources and related transmission mains.

RPA evaluated two broad approaches: permanent treatment of the existing wells and developing replacement sources. "Quite frankly, we're not going to recommend treatment," Brad Koenig said,…