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1. How will Sweetwater Authority notify renters, who may not receive Sweetwater Authority materials about PFAS education?

We are committed to outreach strategies that will engage all customers on this issue. We are using a variety of outreach methods, including water bill inserts, eblasts, community meetings and workshops, press releases, outreach with cities in the service area (City of National City and City of Chula Vista) and local school districts, notices and social media to ensure customers and community members are aware of testing requirements and results.   

We are also hosting a series of community outreach meetings and workshops in early 2025. These meetings will provide additional opportunities for residents to learn about the PFAS and ask questions. Links and meeting details will be available on our website on the PFAS education page, www.sweetwater.org/PFAS.  

We’ve shared information with the local school districts, City of National City, City of Chula Vista and County of San Diego District 1 Office and requested they share through their communications channels to help us engage community members more broadly. 

2. Are quarterly test samples required at point of discharge from plant per UCMR and Sweetwater Reservoir water per state order?

Sweetwater Authority has been required to monitor multiple groundwater sources under the State Department of Drinking Water’s (DDW) monitoring order and more recently Sweetwater Reservoir was added to the monitoring order. PFAS has not been detected in our groundwater sources due to the reverse osmosis PFAS removal process in place at Reynolds Desalination Plant. For more information previous testing, please reference our annual water quality reports, which summarizes testing and any detections each year. They are available on the Authority’s website.

3. Where is the sample point for Sweetwater Reservoir? Is it at the intake tower?

Yes, the sample point at Sweetwater Reservoir is at the intake tower.

4. Will Sweetwater Authority post presentations from the community workshops on the webpage?

Yes. Sweetwater Authority will post presentations from the community workshops on our PFAS education page at www.sweetwater.org/PFAS. 

5. Is there an auto reply on the pfas@sweetwater.org?

The PFAS education team is working on adding an autoreply to the email address.

6. How much does it cost for a PFOA test? And to treat PFAS on a long-term basis? Is there EPA funding available to cover this?

According to staff, PFAS testing for UCMR-5 costs approximately $2,100 for three samples (Perdue, Reynolds Desal and National City well), which would be around $700 per sample. Initial EPA funding covered testing for certain water systems, but additional costs will need be incurred by Sweetwater Authority to address long term treatment. The estimated cost for a PFAS treatment plant is $40 million, plus ongoing operational expenses. Future rate impacts will depend on infrastructure investments and regulatory compliance.

7. If Sweetwater isn’t able to comply with the future EPA standards, what are the impacts?

PFAS contamination levels are currently under regulatory review, with stricter limits expected by 2029. It is anticipated that if water providers do not meet future EPA standards, they may face violations and potential penalties. 

8. How are other agencies in San Diego County addressing PFAS? Is Sweetwater staying ahead of these regulatory requirements.

Sweetwater Authority’s water supply is different than other agencies as the Authority has more local sources of water than other agencies in the region. Most agencies in the region are already relying mostly on imported water for their drinking water. 

9. Are there other emerging contaminants in the water that the public should be aware of? And any future testing to be aware of?

Currently, PFAS is the primary contaminant Sweetwater Authority is required to test for, but additional contaminants may be regulated in the future.

10. Should people be eating fish caught at Sweetwater Reservoir? Does EPA regulate that? Or is that a different agency?

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or Department of Drinking Water (DDW) don’t provide any guidance related to posting notices about fish and wildlife in reservoirs. With this established, the EPA has developed unenforceable water quality criteria and informal benchmarks to help states and authorized Tribes protect aquatic ecosystems from several PFAS.  The levels of PFAS found in the reservoir are much lower than either the acute or chronic water quality benchmarks.  These criteria can be found at https://www.epa.gov/wqc/pfas-and-aquatic-life. 

11. Is water entering Sweetwater Authority water supply from other districts, including the San Diego County Water Authority and Imperial Water, going to be tested?

Yes. Any water entering Sweetwater Authority’s water supply would be tested.

12. It’s been documented that the EPA has experienced federal funding cuts. How will this impact PFAS treatment efforts?

Sweetwater Authority continues to monitor policy developments and advocate for resources to support compliance efforts.