RFP Country Place Design and Services of a Granulated Activated Carbon System

Request for Proposals

Design and Services of a Granulated Activated Carbon
PFAS Treatment System for Well U-1 Country Place 
7614 52nd Ave SW, Lakewood, WA 98498

Proposals are Due on Wednesday, August 2, 2023

The Lakewood Water District (District) is seeking proposals from consultants to provide design and permitting assistance services for adding a granulated activated carbon (GAC) filtration system to remove PFAS at the District’s existing Well U-1 Country Place. The new PFAS treatment system shall be designed to filter approximately 900 gpm of water produced from the District’s U-1 Well at the District’s existing Country Place site. The U-1 Well draws water from is from aquifer C. The U-1 Well is currently equipped with an ATEC filter system to treat elevated iron and manganese levels in the groundwater.

Project Background

In June of 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) levels for six PFAS compounds, perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFOS) – 4 ppt and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) – 4 ppt. EPA’s proposed rule includes the use of a hazard index to consider the combination of four contaminants Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS), and GenX. This project will treat the wells to filter PFAS from the drinking water to levels that meet the proposed EPA MCLs.

 Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made toxic chemicals that include PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS, GenX, and many other chemicals. These chemicals are not found naturally in the environment. PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals. There is evidence that exposure to PFAS over time may lead to adverse human health effects.

 In 2016, Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) sent out a press release notifying the District that high levels of PFAS were found in 5 of the military base’s wells as concentration levels were in excess of the EPA’s health advisory level of 70 PPT during the UCMR3 monitoring. After sampling of water produced from District wells close to JBLM, PFAS was detected well below the EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt. As a result, the District implemented ongoing monitoring of its shallow aquifers – the A-level and C-level aquifers. PFAS levels detected at the Country Place site were below the EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt but above the State Dept. of Health State Action Levels (SALs). Once the SALs were in effect, the U-1 Well was taken offline in accordance with District Board Policy. In anticipation of the EPA’s new proposed MCL levels, additional wells would be slightly above the proposed MCL, causing concerns about the total source capacity available to the District.