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Atascadero water bills expected to increase by 25%

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Atascadero residents could see their water bills increase by 25%.

“Picture a large Brita filter — that is basically what we're doing on a large industrial scale,” said John Neil, General Manager of the Atascadero Mutual Water Company.

The Atascadero Mutual Water Company has proposed a plan that will increase customers' water bills by 25% for the 2024 fiscal year and 4% more each year after that.

“We're trying to design a treatment facility so it’s kind of a broad spectrum approach that will not only handle this but other contaminants that come along in the future,” Niel said.

They plan to build a facility that will filter out polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other toxins.

“We opted to construct water treatment plants to remove these chemicals completely from the water, and it's a very expensive operation. We're talking somewhere between $15 and $20 million,” Neil said.

The whole process is expected to be finished in about a year and a half to two years.

Right now, they are in a design phase which Neil says will take about six to eight months. Then, they'll move on to the construction phase.