City: Water switch coming
May 11—HIGH POINT — High Point says it will change the primary source for its drinking water in response to new federal standards for PFAS pollution.
Most of the water the city sends to its treatment plant is pumped from City Lake, but High Point's other water supply lake will assume this role, at least temporarily.
Plans call for a new backup generator to be installed at Oak Hollow Lake so that the intake equipment there can be used full time.
The City Council this week approved expenditures totaling about $1.19 million to make the switch, which won't happen anytime soon, because the generator and related equipment have a 67-week lead time from the vendor, according to the city.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last month set 4 parts per trillion as the limit for PFAS chemicals in drinking water systems.
Levels of PFAS compounds as high as 10.70 parts per trillion have been found in samples of finished city drinking water.
Raw water samples from City Lake found levels as high as 20.8 parts per trillion, while levels at Oak Hollow Lake were under 4 parts per trillion.
The city says it's not the source of any PFAS chemicals, which are found in many types of consumer products and can be released into the environment in some industrial uses.
The city has not identified the sources of PFAS in its lakes. In addition to switching its primary water source to Oak Hollow Lake, the city is evaluating new treatment technology options for PFAS. The EPA says it will enforce the standards beginning in 2029.
The city says the switch is also being implemented to make way for its planned dam replacement project at City Lake.
