SAN MARTIN
– Making a small step forward in cleaning up
perchlorate-contaminated groundwater in San Martin, the Olin Corp.
announced Thursday that a treatment plant is up and running on a
municipal well owned by the San Martin Water District.
SAN MARTIN – Making a small step forward in cleaning up perchlorate-contaminated groundwater in San Martin, the Olin Corp. announced Thursday that a treatment plant is up and running on a municipal well owned by the San Martin Water District.
The SMWD well serves about 200 customers.
The ion exchange treatment plant is similar to others Olin installed in October on two wells operated by the West San Martin Water Works, serving about 250 customers, and one removing perchlorate from Morgan Hill’s Nordstrom municipal well, serving far more.
A press release from Olin Corp. said that similar ion exchange systems have been approved by the California Department of Health Services (DHS) for use in potable (drinking) water systems.
“The San Martin Water District is pleased with Olin’s speed, efficiency and cooperation,” said Peter Forest, district manager of the SMWD. “Olin has provided a first-class perchlorate removal system capable of treating our water at the well’s maximum fire-flow production rate of approximately 2,000 gallons per minute, with no net reduction in normal pressure.
“The San Martin Water District is pleased with Olin’s attention to our customers’ needs for quality drinking water while maintaining adequate fire protection.”
The treatment plants on the two wells cleaning up the West San Martin Water Works cost about $500,000; Tom Fitzgerald, speaking for Olin Corp. said Thursday that he did not know exactly how much the single plant just installed has cost.
The system will be tested daily for a week or so, the Olin press release said, and frequently but less often after that. Results will be reviewed by the California Department of Health Services, Drinking Water Division.
Perchlorate was discovered in mid-January to have traveled far from its source at the former Olin Corp. safety flare plant on Tennant Avenue in Morgan Hill. Olin has taken responsibility for the chemical polluting public and private wells south to the northern edge of Gilroy and, with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, has paid for bottled water for residents relying on the wells.
Additionally, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state agency, has ordered Olin Corp. to clean up soil and water on its Tennant Avenue site and groundwater polluted off site.
