River Bend Times

During its Jan. 3 regular meeting, Camanche City Council received an update about polyfluorinated substances (PFAs) found in the water supply in the city.

During the session, which was streamed on YouTube, the council learned that the city has submitted a presentation to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is waiting to hear from the agency as the city develops a response to the PFA issue, which has been a problem the city has had to deal with since the fall of 2022, with alarmingly high levels in wells in the area.

“We're still testing and trying things, and if I have a magic wand for you, I'd give it to you, but I don't have anything that can stop everything right away,” Public Works Director Gaylon Pewe said during the session.

Council learned that the only updates on the water system will happen in the coming month when a company comes to work on well No. 5, which has been a problem in recent months. Officials said during the session that nobody knows how long the well will be down and could depend on the extent of the troubles that are found.

Council learned during the session that the only major updates on the water system are that a company will be coming in the month of January to work on well #5 which has been causing issues previously. It’s not known how long this well will be out of commission, depending on how big of an issue examining the well reveals. There have been plenty of headaches for Pewe and his staff as the city has been dealing with discolored water as the city changes wells to deal with PFAs, which alters the flow of water and disturbs scaling in pipes.

“I had a lot of complaints on Friday and Saturday, well we had to explain to them we had a main break Thursday night, Friday morning,” he told the council during the session. “So, I had to shut a lot of valves that reversed flow in the pipes that knocks a lot of scaling off the pipes that comes into your house.”

Council learned by the session that the completion of projects to solve the problem may not be completed until the end of 2024, and more data is needed to determine where to place new wells in the plan.

Moreover, it was noted during the session that the city can’t stretch itself too thin by stringing too many plans as it awaits approval from the EPA. Council noted that while the EPA has been fairly quiet on the issue, it will have a representative at meetings later this month.