Just one month remains before new federal standards for arsenic in drinking water kick in. Yet 25 percent of Arizona water suppliers still have too much of the metal in their water to pass the new limits, a newspaper analysis shows.
Only a handful of the 260 water systems across the state with high arsenic levels appear to be taking steps needed to bring their water within the new federal standard of 10 parts per billion, a review by The Arizona Republic found. The level was revised downward in 2001 from 50 parts per billion after studies showed prolonged exposure to high arsenic levels can cause bladder and other cancers.
Few water companies have signed up for state loans to pay for treatment facilities, and even fewer have asked regulators for rate increases to pay for the expensive systems needed to clean their water.
High levels of arsenic are most frequently found in rural water districts drawing from underground supplies, and in pockets around suburban Phoenix and Tucson served by private water companies.
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Arsenic is a naturally occurring element that leaches from mineral deposits into ground water. State officials are worried that smaller water systems could be forced to shut down if they're not in compliance with the new federal standards.
Those companies moving to build treatment plants are spending big money to bring their water into compliance.
The Arizona American Water Co. has districts across the state that don't meet the new standards. It's paying $20 million to construct a treatment facility just for its Paradise Valley Water Co. near Phoenix and has applied to state regulators for a rate increase. The water there tests just 1 part per billion above the new standard.
The average bill for Paradise Valley customers could soar, from $25 per month to $88, according to a rate increase application filed by the company.
The company's water district in unincorporated Lake Havasu City has higher levels, 7 to 10 parts per billion above the standard. A $2 million treatment plant is in the works there.
"In each of those districts we are building one or more facilities to treat the water," said Tom Broderick, manager of rates and regulatory affairs for Arizona American. "Multimillion-dollar facilities," he added.
The fewer customers a water company has, the more each is likely to be forced to pay toward a new plant.
Arizona American is one of a handful of companies that has come to the state asking for a rate hike. And that has state officials nervous, wondering where the companies are in their quest to reduce arsenic.
There is money available from a state agency to pay for treatment, but less than 10 percent of the state's water companies have applied for the low-cost loans.
"It's been a mystery to us," said Steve Owens, chairman of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, which offers the loans.
Only five water systems have gotten the loans for arsenic treatment so far, five more are close to closing, and 16 applications are pending.
Owens said most larger water companies, and the ones run by city governments, are in good shape to meet the new rules.
But any company that doesn't meet the standard could be forced to shut down under the federal rules. A state Department of Environmental Quality enforcement plan, however, pushes the compliance date to late 2007 for some companies.
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