A new granular activated carbon treatment system, now 80% complete, will filter 1,2,3-Trichloropropane out of the Wasco State Prison water system.
Construction began in late October 2022, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says is nearing completion.
- Video shows granular activated carbon treatment system under construction at the Wasco State Prison
- Since May 2018, the Wasco State Prison water tested positive for a chemical known as 1, 2, 3-Trichloropropane, which according to the California EPA can increase someone's risk of cancer.
- In response to the contaminant in the water, the prison is nearly complete constructing a granular activated carbon treatment system to put them in compliance with the State Water Resources Control Board's mandate.
Clean water running out of the faucet comes from systems the one under construction at the Wasco State Prison.
To ensure a clean water supply at the Wasco State Prison, their team has been working to remove 1, 2, 3-TCP since its detection in May 2018.
“The water is within...it is within safe drinking levels,” Lieutenant Joshua Farley, the public information officer with the Wasco State Prison, said.
The two wells at the prison tested positive for 1, 2, 3 TCP above the maximum contaminant level set at 0.005 micrograms per liter by the California Environmental Protection Agency.
In response, the prison began construction on the granular activated carbon treatment system in late October 2022.
“It all starts right here, this is one of our two wells,” Farley says as he shows 23ABC's Dominique LaVigne the new system.
Farley estimates the project will cost about $2 million upon completion.
"Are you guys getting grant funding for this or is it coming from taxpayer dollars?" LaVigne asked.
“We’re a state agency so it would be taxpayer funding,” Farely said.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation oversees the project, which the department contracted out to WM Lyles, and tells me they expect to complete construction by November 2024.
“We just have to see that the quality of work is good," Joseph Brancato, the correctional plan supervisor with the Wasco State Prison, said. "If we see something we’re not sure, we’ll maybe question it and ask for some understanding of it.”
This comes after multiple missed deadlines, so LaVigne asked if the additional time increased the cost of the project which he says is unclear.
But, he adds weather impacts and unanticipated field conditions weren’t the only reasons for the delays.
“The COVID situation and supply chain issues have all added to the time frame,” Brancato said.
He tells me they’re about 80% complete with construction.
“The water is drawn from the two million gallon tank that we saw outside,” Farley said, continuing to demonstrate the system.
From this water tank, the water filtered through the GAC system travels into the pump house where they recently added variable frequency drives which control the water pressure.
“Everything that we do is recorded," Farley said. "The system keeps a 24-hour, 7 days-a-week record of the demand of water going into the prison.”
He adds they test the water quarterly for updates on the levels of 1, 2, 3-TCP, and they post those water notices for inmates and staff.
“The health and safety of the inmates, the staff that also drink the water in here and the community around is a top priority for CDCR," Farley said.
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