It appears the treatment technologies for Rancho Cordova’s water might help ensure it remains safe to drink well into the future.
Seeking safe water
New Aerojet cleanup effort would treat chemical contamination at the wells
By Chris Bowman - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, June 11, 2007
State health officials are considering a proposal that would have Rancho Cordova residents relying for the first time on treatment technologies to remove rocket fuel chemicals from their drinking water.
The proposed change in contaminant cleanup strategy comes as concentrations of chemicals are creeping up in several Rancho Cordova drinking-water wells.
The fixes, however, are expected to be completed before the contamination reaches unsafe levels, utility and state officials said.
Historically, the community's water supplier has taken wells off-line and even destroyed them when tests consistently picked up levels of fuel and solvent chemicals.
Instead, Golden State Water Co. has proposed the installation of treatment systems at the heads of wells affected by the rising contamination, which originates from GenCorp's Aerojet rocket-manufacturing plant in Rancho Cordova.
"They've used up all the easy fixes," said Alex MacDonald, a senior engineer with the state's Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
