{"id":210416,"date":"2026-03-08T14:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T14:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/210416\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T14:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T14:44:08","slug":"forever-chemicals-in-sweetwater-authoritys-water-what-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/210416\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Forever chemicals’ in Sweetwater Authority\u2019s water: what to know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stay informed on Sweetwater Authority\u2019s rates and PFAS response. Back our reporting.
\n Give $10<\/a><\/p>\n

They\u2019re toxic, slow to break down, tied to health problems \u2014 and if you\u2019re one of the 200,000 customers served by Sweetwater Authority, they\u2019re in your water.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been more than a year since the southern San Diego County agency first disclosed finding what are known as \u201cforever chemicals\u201d in its main reservoir. Officials have since found recent testing shows some lower levels.<\/p>\n

Officials say the water is safe to drink \u2014 but if concentrations of the chemicals continue to increase, the authority may have to increase customer rates to address the problem. Agency officials have been holding community workshops about the chemicals and say they\u2019re committed to being transparent.<\/p>\n

If you live in<\/a> National City, Bonita or parts of Chula Vista, you may be impacted. Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Sweetwater Reservoir supplies water to Sweetwater Authority customers, Spring Valley, Feb. 19, 2026. (Zo\u00eb Meyers for inewsource)<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the water?: The forever chemicals in the agency\u2019s water are also commonly referred to as PFAS, more specifically, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They\u2019re human-made compounds that are slow to break down and can be found in a variety of everyday items from cookware, water-resistant clothing and hygiene products.<\/p>\n

Of the 29 PFAS the authority is required to test for, five were found in the Sweetwater Reservoir and at the Perdue Treatment Plant in Spring Valley.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts have labeled some of the PFAS as possible carcinogens. Scientific studies have linked the chemicals to reproductive issues and hormonal disruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Test results: As of testing conducted on Jan. 8, PFAS levels in the Sweetwater Reservoir are the lowest they have been since early last year. Still, results show that two of the chemicals are close to surpassing state health advisory response levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Environmental Protection Agency rules will go into effect in 2029, establishing federal limits for PFAS concentrations in drinking water. Agencies like Sweetwater Authority will need to fully implement mitigation strategies and notify the public whenever the limits are exceeded.<\/p>\n

The agency has already gone beyond state and federal requirements, conducting and alerting customers in 2024 about the presence of PFAS.<\/p>\n

From the Documenters<\/p>\n

This story came in part from notes taken<\/a> by Jennifer Hua, a San Diego Documenter, at a Sweetwater Authority Community Advisory Work Group meeting earlier this year. The Documenters program trains and pays community members to document what happens at public meetings.<\/p>\n

A human-made problem: PFAS do not occur naturally. They\u2019re \u201cpersistent in all of our consumer products and in the environment,\u201d Justin Brazil, Sweetwater Authority\u2019s director of water quality, told inewsource.<\/p>\n

Drinking water systems are passive receivers\u201d of certain PFAS and their presence in water, air and soil can be linked to manufacturing, firefighting activity, supply line leaks and airplane crashes, according to the EPA.<\/p>\n

Brazil pointed to Sweetwater Reservoir\u2019s location as a potential reason for the accumulation of PFAS.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at Sweetwater Reservoir and of course we\u2019re surrounded in a very urban community,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also acknowledged there is a chance that PFAS existed in the water before the 2024 results. The agency conducted testing in the mid-2010s, he said, but could only detect larger concentrations at that time due to lower \u201canalytical capability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attempts to fix: Sweetwater Authority has hired two environmental engineering companies to help identify possible long-term solutions.<\/p>\n

One of the companies, Carollo Engineers Inc., will evaluate the viability of long-term PFAS treatment under a pilot study. The study is set to conclude by the end of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A $40 million price tag: That\u2019s how much Carollo Engineers has estimated it could cost the agency to address PFAS. Officials are considering multiple ideas.<\/p>\n

Trying water blending: Brazil cited blending from water transfers from the authority\u2019s Loveland Reservoir near Alpine as a possible option to lower PFAS concentrations. Right now, the agency is typically using water transfers to secure water supply and if there is heavy rainfall, not to combat PFAS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after the agency conducted a major transfer in December, all five PFAS concentrations dropped by as many as 5.7 parts per trillion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angel Marquez, Sweetwater Authority\u2019s public affairs manager, said that the water secured from this transfer will save customers \u201canywhere between maybe $12-15 million over the next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, water blending comes at a price, especially if it involves importing water from outside of the agency\u2019s own supply. Sweetwater Authority purchases about 30% of its water from the county Water Authority, and costs are rising.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now you\u2019re talking millions of dollars per year in additional water purchases if you don\u2019t have local water available to solve the problem versus if you go the treatment route,\u201d Brazil said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Building infrastructure: Such a treatment route \u2014 whether a new plant or upgraded infrastructure \u2014 could be more cost-effective than water transfers over time, according to Brazil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Justin Brazil is the director of water quality at Sweetwater Authority, Spring Valley, Feb. 19, 2026. (Zo\u00eb Meyers for inewsource)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou pay that capital cost one time, and then, of course, you have ongoing operation and maintenance costs, but it\u2019s not going to be as much long-term as continually just purchasing imported water from the Colorado river and state project water<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

More groundwater?: Officials say increasing their groundwater supply could also help. The agency has wells in National City and \u200bthe Reynolds Groundwater Desalination Facility in Chula Vista. Brazil said the agency has had early discussions about developing another desalination facility in their service area, though he acknowledged it\u2019s a costly project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can develop more groundwater sources, then that\u2019s water we don\u2019t have to purchase from a water authority when water is not available,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bills, bills, bills: How does this affect customers\u2019 pockets? Marquez said that depends on federal and state investment, but that residents could see a 6-12% increase in their rates.<\/p>\n

The authority has started a PFAS mitigation fund with money awarded through a settlement from a class action lawsuit that the agency joined against manufacturers of PFAS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It expects $10 million from that settlement over the course of the next eight years. It has received $3.7 million as of October, with about half of that going to Carollo Engineers and Tetra Tech, the other company that Sweetwater Authority hired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even with this expected revenue, Brazil said that the agency would still need more to maintain customer rates \u2014 currently the lowest in the county<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re talking about us having to be in compliance by April 2029 \u2014 I mean, we need the support now, not later,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Learn more: Catch up on a presentation<\/a> the authority gave at a Community Advisory Work Group Meeting earlier this year.<\/p>\n

It also has more information on its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tType of Content<\/p>\n

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stay informed on Sweetwater Authority\u2019s rates and PFAS response. Back our reporting. Give $10 They\u2019re toxic, slow to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[10037,643,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-210416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-documenters","tag-environment","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}