Pump To Bypass Polluted Well Coeur D’Alene Struggles To Lower Solvent Levels In Water

With levels of an industrial solvent climbing close to the federal limit for drinking water, the Coeur d’Alene Water Department is going to “Plan C” for dealing with its polluted Hanley well.

Installing a $40,000 booster pump will allow the well to be shut down for all or most of the year.

“That will drop the TCE levels to zero,” water superintendent Jim Markley said Wednesday.

TCE, or trichloroethylene, is believed to have leaked into the ground water from a metal-plating company and other sources.

The chemical compound is thought to increase the risk of cancer among people exposed to it long-term.

The city first tried shutting down the Hanley well. But that left the northern part of town without enough water pressure, Markley said.

“Plan B” also failed. It involved using a second well to help fill the water tank that’s located northwest of Silver Lake Mall.

That dropped TCE levels but not enough, Markley said.

The booster pump will keep the water tank full, he said, without drawing from the Hanley well.

Hanley may be needed only briefly during the summer when water demand is high, he said.

The pump will be installed in the next 30 to 60 days near U.S. Highway 95 just north of Kathleen Avenue.

The money will come from the department’s emergency reserve, Markley said.

Water pumped from the Hanley well has contained an average TCE level of 4.4 parts per billion over the past year. That’s just below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency limit.

“EPA and the best scientific information available say if you exceed an average of 5 parts per billion for four consecutive quarters, you’ve got a health problem,” said Markley.

In the second quarter of this year, the average jumped to 7.2.

“That got us really nervous,” Markley said.

In June, the reading reached an all-time high of 8.4. The last test, on Sept. 16, showed a level of 4.3 parts per billion.

, DataTimes