Statement from the City of Camas Regarding PFAS and Well 13 8/1/25
You may or may not have received a letter yet regarding the level of PFAS in Well 13 that has exceeded the State Allowable Level(SAL). In accordance with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) requirements the City is notifying customers that water sampling in June of 2025 showed Well 13 had an average detection level from two samples of 39.75 ppt (Parts Per Trillion), with the SAL being 15 ppt.
The two most common questions we receive concerning this issue are:
- Why don’t you turn off the well?
- What are you doing about it?
Why Isn’t Well 13 Off?
Well 13 was turned on in June of 2025 due to increased demand from customers and will remain on until demand from customers drops in the fall of 2025. Quite simply, during the summer months, the City does not have enough water to meet the demand, and therefore turning off Well 13 would result in water shortages and possible outages of water for some customers. In terms of requiring water conservation, the City has asked for a voluntary reduction of water usage with customers watering on odd/even days depending on their address. A more stringent water reduction would require strong enforcement, and the City does not currently have the staff to monitor this on a daily basis.
What is the City doing about the PFAS Issue?
The City has taken the PFAS concern seriously and continues to be proactive in our approach to the water system. After volunteering in late 2020 to test our water system for PFAS prior to most other providers in the State, the City will begin construction on the treatment system by late summer of 2025. The treatment project for Well 13 is anticipated to be online by 2027 and will cost approximately $12 million dollars.
In addition to designing treatment for Well 13, the City’s team of experts are also assisting the City with completion of a comprehensive PFAS response management plan which will include a comprehensive review of the City’s well sources and identification of all potential funding resources for future treatment or new water sources. Those new water sources could be in the form of a new Well or obtaining water from different areas in and around the City.
We understand the concerns of our citizens and are taking this matter very seriously. The City is working on all available avenues to find a solution to this issue that is impacting multiple other jurisdictions in Clark County. For more information related to the City’s water system and PFAS, please visit https://engagecamas.com/pfas-and-the-camas-water-system or contact Rob Charles, Utilities Manager (360-817-7003 or rcharles@cityofcamas.us(External link)) .
For a little more context on Forever Chemicals or PFAS, they have been around since the 50s as a way to coat just about everything we use on a daily basis, cookware, plastics, carpets and makeup. It was also previously used in fire fighting foam. As this coating wears off, it is washed off into sewer systems, septic systems, onto land, or into stormwater ponds. The fine plastics are too small to be captured through any conventional treatment process, which makes them difficult to remove. Those small particles eventually make their way to groundwater which supplies many cities source for drinking water.
