Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Steve Owens announced the ADEQ will provide an estimated $800,000 to fund the construction & operation of a water treatment system for Valle Verde Water Company in Nogales. ADEQ is providing the funds from its Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF), which addresses soil & groundwater contamination.
In January 2007, customers of Valle Verde, located east of I-19, were informed by the water company of the detection of tetrachloroethylene (PCE), an industrial solvent, at concentrations above the maximum contaminant level of 5 micrograms per liter in samples collected from Wells 1, 2, 4 & 7 in Valle Verde's system.
As a result, alternate drinking water supplies were provided. ADEQ has been working with Valle Verde & the City of Nogales since that time to address the PCE contamination & establish a permanent solution for the water supply problem.
"We are committed to implementing a long-term solution to the PCE contamination so that residents in the area are assured of safe & reliable drinking water," Director Owens said. "We are making a substantial commitment of resources to address this problem."
The WQARF funding will be used for construction & operation expenses for a granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment system at site of Valle Verde Well #2. The system will consist of 2 GAC contact vessels where contaminated water will flow through & PCE will be absorbed by the carbon. Storage tanks also will be constructed at Valle Verde Wells #2 & #3 to aid in distribution of treated water. The construction is expected to take about 1 year.
In addition to construction of the water treatment system, ADEQ is working with Valle Verde & the City of Nogales to construct a pipeline connection between their 2 systems which could be used by Valle Verde during potential future water supply emergencies. Such interconnection agreements are common between neighboring water supply systems.