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.
