Water resourceful

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report came out regarding some of the contaminants that were found in the water in Airway Heights last May. The 852-page document concluded that the PFOA/PFOS could be more damaging than people thought before, but the city has actually not been using any water that was contaminated last year.

"We know that any level (of the chemicals) isn't acceptable," Public Works Director Kevin Anderson said. "I think we are at the leading edge of this issue. With the CDC report, more and more people are paying attention."

The city has done a couple things to make sure they have a reliable water source for their residents instead of using water from the wells that were contaminated.

The first one was the new water intertie with the city of Spokane that has been the number one source for Airway Heights. With this addition, there are now two interties, one at Hayford and Highway 2 and the new one at Craig and McFarlane roads.

"We are internally grateful for that deal with Spokane," Anderson said. "But it is not intended to be permanent."

This new intertie has been operational for a few weeks and the city is in a contract with Spokane for two more years with an option to renew up to five years.

Fairchild Air Force Base has been helping Airway Heights buy the water from Spokane as well and that contract can be renewed in November.

"We are very grateful for Fairchild Air Force Base and the city of Spokane," Anderson said.

Another thing Fairchild has done is help build a filtration system that tests the water all the time for the city. Airway Heights had a role in reviewing it and approving the process, but other than that, the Air Force has been in charge of the project.

"The Air Force is also assisting with finding a long-term solution," Anderson said. "We don't know what it will be yet. But they have been putting together a civil engineering team together to examine options. They have bent over backwards for us."

Along with helping fund new water supplies, Fairchild has also been testing other wells in Airway Heights to make sure other contaminates haven't been found. If any deductions were found, Fairchild would reach out to people affected and inform them.

There are a total of five wells in the city and three of those were found with the chemicals last year.

"With the two interties with Spokane and the filtration systems, now we can breathe and look at the long term solution," Anderson said. "If one thing goes out, we now have backups. We haven't had that since last May. Now we have redundancy."

Grace Pohl can be reached at grace@cheneyfreepress.com.