Read the full article by Kimberly Houghton (Union Leader)
“With construction expected to begin in April, Merrimack’s third water treatment facility is designed to treat contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Peter Pitsas, a project manager with Underwood Engineering of Concord, has been overseeing the designs of the PFAS treatment plants for Merrimack Village District (MVD) wells since contamination was discovered at faucets at the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics facility and later within the surrounding groundwater.
Once the new treatment plant is complete, Merrimack will have three PFAS treatment plants for its public water wells serviced by MVD; statewide there will be a total of five, including one in Dover and one now under construction in Portsmouth.
‘You guys are on the leading edge of what is happening in the state,’ Pitsas told local planning officials last month while introducing site plans for the third treatment facility.
He predicts that other municipalities will be inquiring about Merrimack’s treatment sites and using them as role models as water companies adjust to recently approved state regulations for perfluorooctanoic acid contamination.
The newest treatment plant will be constructed for MVD’s well #2 in the area of Berry Lane and Stevens Avenue off Amherst Road; the hope is to break ground in April.
‘The treatment for PFAS is granular activated carbon,’ said Pitsas…”