Columbia County commissioners received an update during committee meetings about a letter that has gone out to residents regarding trihalomethanes (TTHM ), also known as “forever chemicals, “in the water system.
During the Public Works and Engineering Services (PWES) Committee meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 25, District 4 Commissioner and committee Chair Alison Couch, asked for an update on the situation.
Water Utility Director Stacey Gordon said the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) sends the county a sample every quarter, the county has seven days to take it and then send it back. A sample was sent in November 2024 and on Feb. 12 the county received notice of violation from the sample. Since some bills were going out on Feb. 14, the decision was made to go ahead and send the letter out with the water bill.
“If you know anything about our plants, we use three different disinfectant means for our plant,” Gordon said. “We use peroxide, UV disinfection and chlorine. The state and EPA require us to have a residual chlorine in our water. As we treat the water, chlorine creates something called a disinfection by product, that’s the TTHM’s. It’s in everybody’s water in every developed nation. The chlorine inactivates any kind of water-born illness that’s possible. The water wasn’t dirty by any means, we basically disinfected it three times. The UV, chlorine and peroxide would’ve eliminated anything. But it does create a disinfected byproduct that is regulated. We exceeded it by 2 parts per billion, the regulation, so it’s 80 parts per billion is the regulation, and we were at 82.”
When it comes to the testing, Gordon added that there’s a long-term running average and four samples go into it, so if there’s one hit, the county must keep the average the same over time.
MORE: Columbia County officials say county water is safe
“One was a hit in our 620 system in November and then the same site again is still over the long-term running average. So there’s four samples that go into the long-term running average, so there’s another in the 620 system, so we’ll have more letters going out,” Gordon said.
Because people receive water bills in either the middle of the month or at the end of the month, more letters are being sent out with bills on Feb. 28. Then, depending on when the next letter from the EPD arrives, more letters could be sent with March water bills.
“But it’s a minor violation. TTHM’s are not an immediate health hazard. It’s something you would have to drink gallons a day for years and years and decades in order to have a slight elevated risk of colorectal or bladder cancer,” Gordon said. “Just for one or two hits and drinking it for a few months is not going to hurt anybody’s health.”
District 3 Commissioner Michael Carraway asked what the county is doing to prevent this situation from happening again. Gordon said they are looking at several options.
“One is before we went to our new treatment process with the UV. We were putting in powder activated carbon out at Clarks Hill, and we were well below the limit then,” Gordon said. “We do know that powder activated carbon will absorb organics and have them settle out of the system. The issue is with organics that get through your filters and the residual chlorine reacts with it over time. So, we do know that. We can use things like a sodium permanganate to maybe take care of organics.”
Gordon also said they are flushing the system more, which will keep the water young and should help solve the problem.
Gordon added the issue is at the 620 location, which is in Appling, it’s not a county wide issue. But letters still must be sent out to all residents.
Other PWES committee items
The committee approved moving forward with a resolution to decrease the speed limit on North Fairview Drive from 55 mph to 45 mph.
Also approved was a change order to add a right turn lane only from Washington Road onto William Few Parkway.
The committee also approved an agreement with Goodwyn Mills Cawood for the design of all remaining phases of the Euchee Creek Greenway. This project is to create sections of 10-foot-wide shared use paths throughout the county to connect to the Euchee Creek Greenway.
The remaining phases approved are the following:
- Along William Few Parkway from the trailhead near Baker Place Landfill to the current Patriots Park Trail near the intersection of William Few Parkway and Columbia Road.
- Along William Few Parkway from the current Patriots Park Trail on the north side of the property to the future unnamed park development next to the intersection of Hardy McManus and William Few Parkway.
- Along the GA Power Easement from Blanchard Woods Park to the future Riverside Park development next to the intersection of Hardy McManus and William Few Parkway
Community and Emergency Services Committee
The Community and Emergency Services Committee approved moving forward with a resolution authorizing Hull Barrett Law Firm to represent the county in PFAS litigation.
County Manager Scott Johnson said several other law firms had reached out to the county asking them to join this class action lawsuit against Dupont, 3M, Tyco, and BASF regarding polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) or “forever chemicals.”
“It was brought to our attention there is some litigation out there concerning water system levels,” Johnson said. “While our system has maintained the proper levels, we do think we may be entitled to some of these damages and settlement fees in this lawsuit. Typically, Hull Barrett performs the county work at a negotiated rate, but this being a different thing, not knowing how much work is going to go into this, we decided to separate this out and do a contingency basis. They would only get 25% of whatever they recover.”
In other news
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners will hold a special called meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. in the auditorium at the Evans Government Center Complex to discuss House Bill 581.
