Dayton to spend $7.5M to help blend water, reduce PFAS contamination

Project near former Kittyhawk Golf Center is one of several the city is pursuing to meet new federal water safety requirements
Water well field at Huffman Dam is operated by the city of Dayton. STAFF FILE PHOTO

Water well field at Huffman Dam is operated by the city of Dayton. STAFF FILE PHOTO

Dayton recently approved spending more than $7 million to install a new water main in one of its well fields, which officials say is part of the city’s strategy to reduce PFAS chemical levels in the drinking water.

The city earlier this year also approved a couple of other multimillion-dollar projects aimed at combatting “forever chemicals” in the water supply.

Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the latest water system investment is important and will not cost the city a dime, similar to some other recent projects.

“This is all being funded with other people’s money — my favorite source of funding,” said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein.

PFAS chemicals have been found in many water systems at varying levels, and multiple studies link higher PFAS exposure to harmful health impacts like cancer. The EPA’s allowable limits for PFAS used to be higher, but this year, citing further study, the EPA cut the maximum allowable level in drinking water to 4 parts per trillion. Public water systems across the country have five years to comply with the new standard.

The Mad River flows past the city of Dayton’s Ottawa water treatment plant on the east side of Dayton. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

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Large new water main

The Dayton City Commission recently approved a $7.5 million contract with CJ Hughes Construction Co. to construct a new 34-inch water main in the Miami Well Field.

The project consists of building a raw water line from south of Needmore Road to the Miami Water Treatment Plant, located at 3210 Chuck Wagner Lane in northeast Dayton, city documents state.

The Miami Well Field is located in and around the former Kittyhawk Golf Center and along Rip Rap Road south of Fishburg Road.

The city has said this project seeks to increase the capacity and improve the redundancy of the Miami Well Field, which is a vital part of its polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) strategy.

The city’s water distribution system serves about 400,000 people in Montgomery County.

A water tower in East Dayton. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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This project should begin in early 2025 and will take about six to nine months to complete, said Keshia Kinney, Dayton’s division manager of water supply and treatment.

The project will convey additional raw water through the Miami Well Field, she said.

If funding is available, Dayton hopes to construct a raw water interconnect that this line would feed into, allowing the city to send water with nondetectable levels of PFAS from the Miami Well Field to the Ottawa Treatment Plant, Kinney said.

Blending water is part of the city’s PFAS strategy.

The city plans to mix water containing PFAS that it pumps out of the ground from the Mad River Well Field with non-contaminated water from the Miami Well Field. The blended water would have a lower concentration of PFAS.

The city also wants to connect its water treatment plants.

This map shows potential city of Dayton water system projects aimed at combating PFAS, also known as forever chemicals. This map of potential projects was included in a limited environmental review by the Ohio EPA, which the agency conducted to evaluate the city's request for funding for a new 36-inch raw water main. CONTRIBUTED

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Paying for the project

The funding for the Miami Well Field project comes from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The project is expected to receive financing through the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Supply Revolving Loan Account program.

City Manager Dickstein said this funding and other similar funding Dayton has received means water customers won’t have to shoulder the cost of water system improvements via rate hikes.

“It’s a big deal,” Dickstein said. “We’ve been really proactive, ahead of everybody in regards to this issue.”

She said, “Every dollar we attract is a dollar a water-payer doesn’t have to worry about. (PFAS) should get solved not on their backs.”

Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein at a city commission worksession in May 2024. CORNELIUS FROLIK / STAFF

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The city earlier this year approved an $8 million contract with Moody’s of Dayton Inc. to install four new groundwater production wells within the Miami Well Field.

The wells, when up and running, should have the capability to pump millions of gallons of water each day. They are expected to provide raw water to the Ottawa Treatment Plant, located at 1044 Ottawa St., according to an application for funding to the Ohio EPA.

That $8 million project is being funded with a 0% interest loan that has principal forgiveness — meaning it’s basically a grant, said Aaron Zonin, Dayton’s deputy director of the water department.

The city also is in the early planning stages of constructing a new $250 million PFAS treatment center that reportedly will be the largest facility of its kind in the nation when complete.

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