December 26th, 2024 – 11:45 AM
David Crowder – WRGA News Director –
Rome City officials are anticipating breaking ground on a new reverse osmosis water treatment facility on Riverside Parkway in 2025.
Settlement funds from a lawsuit filed by the city against carpet manufacturers, chemical companies, and others that will pay for the new facility that will remove PFAS and other chemicals from the local water supply.
The chemicals, which are used to make carpets and other items stain-resistant, have been linked to numerous adverse health impacts.
The city currently has money in the back for the project, according to Rome Finance Director Toni Rhinehart.”
“Our cash, if you take out the settlement funds, we’re at about $38 million dollars,” she said. That looks like a really big number. $161 million is what we have received so far in settlement funds.”
An additional $7 million in settlement funds is expected over the next four years.
According to Rome Water and Sewer Division Director John Boyd, most of that money is going to be in and out as construction on the plant begins.
“Think of it as a construction loan that you are about to start drawing down on pretty hard,” he said. “It could be as much as $50 million next year, according to our engineer, as we start procuring equipment and materials because of the extended lead times. There are still some items out there that are three to five years out.”
Construction of the facility, which is expected to take two to three years, is anticipated at around $200 million.
Water systems are facing a deadline of April of 2029 before running the risk of being cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when new water quality standards, which are essentially zero-tolerance for PFAS, start being enforced.
The Rome City Commission recently approved a five-and-a-half percent increase in water and sewer rates for 2025 and again in 2026. They will take another look at the rates in two years once the final implications of the new reverse osmosis treatment facility are known and other pressing capital needs are understood.
