Brunswick County is close to completing a years-long, multimillion-dollar project at its Northwest Water Treatment Plant. The project is expanding capacity at the facility and installing a low-pressure reverse osmosis water treatment system to remove PFAS.
鈥淲e all live and work in this community, and we know how important this project is to our residents and water customers because we also use the water that comes from this water plant every day,鈥� said Brunswick County Public Utilities Director John Nichols.
The project is set to finish this spring; it's previously experienced some delays. Once completed, the Northwest Water Treatment Plant will be the second largest reverse osmosis water treatment plant in the nation, according to county officials.
The facility currently takes in 24 million gallons per day. The project is increasing the amount of water that can be treated at the plant by an additional 12 million gallons per day to accommodate future growth.
"We're a large tourism community. We're growing in the number of people that are coming and using our water system," said county spokesperson Meagan Kascsak.
The reverse osmosis water treatment system will filter out PFAS from the facility's water. PFAS are toxic chemicals found in several North Carolina waterways, including the Cape Fear River, which is where this facility draws its water from.
"Reverse osmosis is considered the most advanced water treatment process available on the market," Kascsak said. "(A) pilot program actually showed that after the water was treated with the (reverse osmosis) system ... there were non-detectable levels of the PFAS compounds that we were looking for."
Chemical companies Chemours and Dupont polluted the Cape Fear River with PFAS for decades. Brunswick County is part of an ongoing lawsuit against the two companies, and hopes to recoup the costs of this project.
"The county is seeking monetary damages from Chemours to hold it responsible for the millions of dollars it is spending to install a new treatment system necessary to remove PFAS contaminants," the county said in a news release.
The project cost is $167.3 million. Kascsak said the county did absorb some costs related to infrastructure enhancement, but water rates for customers did increase in 2022 to help pay for the project.
"We know that this project is very expensive. It was something that our community wanted," Kascsak said. "We also know that it's unfortunate that our water customers are really the ones having this financial burden placed on them."
According to a , Brunswick County鈥檚 average monthly retail water bill before the rate increase was $24.83 for someone using 4,500 gallons per month. After the rate increase, the average monthly retail water bill is estimated at $34.68 for someone using 4,500 gallons.
Water from this facility goes to several municipalities throughout the county, including the Town of Holden Beach, the Town of Oak Island, and the Village of Bald Head Island.
Last April, the EPA passed federal drinking water standards for six types of PFAS. The installation of the reverse osmosis system ensures that Brunswick County will be in compliance with these new federal standards.
