Indio Water Authority opens Chromium-6 treatment plants

The Indio Water Authority is the first in the valley to begin treating drinking water for chromium-6 under new state standards.

Chromium-6 which gained notoriety after the movie “Erin Brockovich,” occurs naturally in the desert and it can be just as dangerous as what was portrayed in the film, experts say.

“Behind this building is a 5 million-gallon reservoir,” Indio Water Authority General Manger Brian Macy said.

Macy gave News Channel 3 and CBS Local 3 a tour of the first of three chromium-6 treatment facilities to go online for the Indio Water Authority.

“Each one of these units have four vessels in them. Each vessel is capable of treating 200 gallons a minute. There is a resin in there that actually targets the chromium-6,” said Macy.

Last year, the state lowered the amount of the potentially cancer-causing chemical allowed in drinking water. The stricter regulations shut down 13 of IWA’s wells. The remaining seven are enough to supply the city, but not forever.

“Basically when the summer started getting very hot in the desert, we would have a potential problem of actually providing water to our customers,” Macy said.

The solution was to build treatment plants for three wells in six months. The $7 million project was funded through bond refinancing and development impact fees. A rate increase was not needed.

“The other thing that really helped us out was the conservation effort that the city of Indio has put forth. We’ve seen a reduction of 24 percent in water usage going into this hot June,” said Macy.

That conservation helped stretch water supplies that much further until construction was complete.

“It simply comes through this, it is treated, then it is put in the reservoir. Then it is shipped out to our residents through a booster station so it gets to the right pressure, so they can brush their teeth and things like that. It’s a very simple process,” said Macy.

It’s also a fast process. Hundreds gallons are treated every minute.

“We turned well AA on yesterday and hope to turn on another well this week and then our last well next week, so we are on schedule to meet our summer demands,” said Macy.

Indio Water Authority has seven more wells that still need treatment facilities before they can be put back into use. The agency is currently looking at funding options.