The Village is aware of a letter that Bald Head Island property owners are receiving from Chemours in regard to a residential drinking water well information request. The request is asking for the property owner’s source of drinking water and states that Chemours is in the process of identifying private drinking water wells for testing.
There are three private drinking water wells on the island. To make sure these private well owners are aware of the testing, the Village will be reaching out to them. Property owners can respond to Chemours’ request if they wish to do so.
To find out more information about why Chemours is testing the wells, please go to the NC Department of Environmental Quality’s “Well Sampling Information for Lower Cape Fear Area Residents” webpage HERE.
A Little Background
Since the emerging contaminants (GenX/PFAS) issue with drinking water sourced from the Cape Fear River began in 2018, nothing has changed with the sources of the Village’s drinking water. The primary source of the island’s drinking water is island wells. The Village uses a reverse osmosis (RO) system to treat its water. This method successfully removes the emerging contaminants. While the island’s water is supplemented with treated water from Brunswick County, the water it receives comes from the NC 211 plant which also draws from wells and is treated. The NC 211 plant water is supplemented with treated water from Brunswick County’s Northwest Plant. The Northwest Plant’s water source is the Cape Fear River. This blended and treated water supplements Bald Head Island’s water during high use periods and is blended with the island’s treated water. Through this process, a very dilute quantity of treated Cape Fear River water is combined with the island’s drinking water.
When tested for emerging contaminants in 2018, the concentration in the island’s potable water was slightly more than 2 parts per trillion (ppt). The recently revised human consumption threshold is 140 ppt. With reductions in source contamination since that time, the concentrations throughout the river and in the treatment system are well below the 140 ppt threshold.
If you have any questions, please contact Carin Faulkner at public.information@villagebhi.org.