Calgon Carbon announced it has signed a system supply contract valued at $13.2 million, with California Water Service (Cal Water).
Under the contract, Calgon Carbon will provide granular activated carbon (GAC) and associated equipment systems to treat more than 30 drinking water wells contaminated by 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP).
Calgon Carbon will supply 104 GAC adsorption vessels and over 2 million pounds of Filtrasorb 400 GAC to treat more than 40 million gallons of water per day at 38 of Cal Water’s well sites.
The GAC adsorption equipment will be installed in stages, with all of the equipment expected to be in service by June 2018. Both the activated carbon and vessels will be manufactured in the United States.
GAC removes 1,2,3-TCP from water through a process called adsorption. The California Division of Drinking Water expects that GAC will be named as the best available technology (BAT) in the new TCP regulation.
1,2,3–TCP is a manmade, colorless, chlorinated hydrocarbon that was found in soil fumigants commonly used in California prior to the 1990s. 1,2,3-TCP causes cancer in laboratory animals (U.S. EPA, 2009). In 1992, the state of California added 1,2,3-TCP to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer, pursuant to California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act.
The compound is currently not regulated by the U.S. EPA, although it is on the Contaminant Candidate List 4 for future regulation. On March 3, 2017, the California State Water Resources Control Board proposed a draft maximum contaminant level (MCL) for 1,2,3-TCP of 5 parts per trillion.
“While the standard for TCP has not been finalized in California, we intend to be fully prepared to meet any MCL ultimately set, because protecting our customers’ health and safety is our highest priority,” said Martin A. Kropelnicki, Cal Water president and CEO. He added that the partnership will help them comply with the new standards as quickly as possible.