City of Anaheim, Brown and Caldwell to partner on PFAS removal project

The City of Anaheim, California, has enlisted Brown and Caldwell to provide owner advisory services for the design-build delivery of multiple groundwater treatment plants. The new facilities will play a key role in Anaheim’s compliance with recent state Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulations and ensure water supplies continue to meet state and federal quality standards.

Following the nation’s largest PFAS pilot program undertaken by the Orange County Water District to identify a local remedy to remove trace amounts of the manmade chemicals from groundwater, Anaheim is installing multiple groundwater treatment plants to eliminate PFAS from local groundwater supplies. The heat and water-resistant chemical properties of PFAS make them difficult to remove through chemical and biological processes in conventional water and wastewater treatment, therefore new, technologically advanced plants are required. The total construction budget of the groundwater treatment plants program is $80 million to $100 million, delivered in three phases, and three design-build projects, over five years.