East Rockhill Township News.
The East Rockhill Board of Supervisors Tuesday, March 25 approved a conditional use application for a new Perkasie Regional Authority water treatment facility at 1100 Branch Road.
The $10 million 35-foot barn-shaped facility is primarily aimed at reactivating and treating well #14, which has been inactive for years due to arsenic contamination. The new well will enable PRA to significantly increase its water supply, providing extra capacity in the event of an emergency, and reduce the wear and tear on other wells, said Sean Torpey, project engineer.
The project will also help to compensate for multiple PRA wells with PFAS contaminant levels in excess of the newly-announced Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit of four parts per trillion, set to take effect in 2029, said Torpey. PRA is about to start construction on a PFAS treatment facility on Three Mile Run Road.
“We’ve got a couple other wells being impacted by newer contaminants, so if we take a well off here and there, we want to make sure we have that extra capacity to pump more water into the system in the case of an emergency,” said Torpey. “It gives us more of a belt and suspenders for the Authority.”
The well will operate for six to seven hours per day, pumping an additional 650 gallons of water per minute into the system, with a maximum capacity of 750,000 gallons per day. PRA estimates a 12% increase in its water supply over the next five years, said PRA manager Nick Fretz.
After Supervisor Jim Nietupski raised concerns about the project’s impact on nearby private wells, Fretz confirmed that PRA is required by law to drill impacted wells deeper or connect them to the public water system at no cost. Under questioning, Fretz promised to guarantee all wells within a one-mile radius of the facility.
Fretz estimated the project’s timeframe at 18 months, with construction slated for the fall following the anticipated completion of the PFAS treatment facility on Three Mile Run Road.
Following the hearing, the board granted PRA both the conditional use application and a land development waiver.
The next East Rockhill Board of Supervisors meeting is on April 22 at 7 p.m. For more information, visit eastrockhilltownship.org
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