Last year, Greensboro’s water system provided nearly 35 million gallons each day to Gate City residents. The quality study for that period is now out, and the city’s water made good marks.
Of the roughly 120 contaminants monitored in Greensboro's drinking water, about 20 substances — things like chloride, phosphorus, and fluoride — were detected leaving the Mitchell and Townsend water treatment plants. But all were well below regulatory limits.
Laboratory superintendent Mark Hill Jr. says one big reason is the source: Higgins, Townsend, and Brandt lakes in northern Guilford County.
"We are at the top of the Cape Fear River Basin," says Hill. "What that means is our water has not been reclaimed by any other municipality. So, our water sources have not been touched."
Hill says he and his colleagues go through a system of checks and balances to ensure quality: a state-certified lab, hourly monitoring, and distribution testing to verify consistency throughout the system. Among the unregulated contaminants — those where the EPA has yet to establish drinking water standards — PFOS and PFOA were above the current federally suggested guidelines of four parts per trillion. Hill says meeting that mark will be tough, at least in the short term.
"Our goal is to with municipalities — not only Greensboro but across the world — are going to have to implement what they call new technologies like GAC, granulated activated carbon," he says. "So, you’ll be able to remove these PFAS elements from your water. It’s kind of like a pretreatment type thing."
Hill says the new technology has already been piloted and chosen for the plant and all that remains is budgeting and implementation. He anticipates breaking ground within the next five years.