Vancouver works to remove forever chemicals from water supply

The city of Vancouver this week took a step toward removing forever chemicals from the municipal water supply.

The Vancouver City Council on Monday unanimously approved a professional services agreement with Portland-based engineering consultants Stantec for preliminary design of a water treatment system for the city’s Water Station 4 at Blandford Drive and East Fifth Street.

According to a staff report, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been found in Water Station 4 groundwater wells “above EPA’s 2023 proposed maximum contaminant level for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid and perfluorooctanoic acid.”

The city has applied for and expects to receive up to $12 million in loan funding from the state’s drinking water revolving fund, with 100 percent of the loan potentially forgivable, according to the report.

“The major design element for the Water Station 4 project is the installation of the new PFAS treatment units. Much of the associated design work with the new treatment system is dependent on the selection of the PFAS treatment technology, which will be either ion exchange or granular activated carbon filters,” the report states.

The total amount of the professional services agreement with Stantec is $615,741.12. The contract will be in effect from April 1 through Dec. 31, 2026.

The work at Water Station 4 is part of the city’s wider PFAS management plan, which was finalized in January.