IEUA pilots well rehabilitation to tackle PFAS from drilling muds

IEUA pilots well rehabilitation to tackle PFAS from drilling mudsThe Inland Empire Utilities Agency is investigating whether commonly used well drilling products contribute to groundwater PFAS contamination, hoping chemical rehabilitation can avert the need for costly treatment facilities.

IEUA advanced a $235,814 contract to Woodard & Curran to lead the technical evaluation of drilling muds.

The project will fingerprint drilling products and pilot chemical rehabilitation on an IEUA monitoring well and a production well.

If successful, the chemical breakdown of the mud could provide a significantly cheaper alternative to constructing PFAS pump-and-treat plants.

The Inland Empire Utilities Agency (IEUA) is targeting an overlooked potential source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in groundwater—well drilling muds—through a regional pilot project that could save water utilities millions in treatment costs. On July 8, the IEUA Engineering, Operations & Water Resources Committee advanced a $235,814 professional services contract to Woodard & Curran to lead the technical evaluation. The initiative is backed by grant funding from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California's Future Supply Actions Funding Program, with matching funds from regional partners including Three Valleys, Western, and Jurupa Community Service District. The project aims to determine whether drill products contain PFAS additives and if they are leaching into the groundwater basin. Deputy Manager of Water System Programs Andy Campbell explained that drilling mud is used to lubricate drill bits and bring cuttings to the surface, but residual mud often remains in the borehole. "We were thinking that perhaps we're getting some PFAS in some of our wells from that mud that may still remain in the wells," Campbell told the committee. Because the residual mud is not effectively removed through mechanical means, the project will evaluate methods to chemically break it down. The scope of work includes fingerprinting drilling mud products and groundwater samples to identify potential PFAS sources. The project team will then pilot chemical well rehabilitation techniques on an IEUA monitoring well and a production well, measuring pre- and post-rehabilitation PFAS concentrations to quantify the performance. If the chemical rehabilitation successfully eliminates the localized PFAS source, it could offer massive financial relief for utilities grappling with new regulatory limits. "The benefits to the industry would be a well rehabilitation is a lot cheaper to conduct on a well than building a PFAS treatment plant," Campbell said. "We might go to the large production wells that have some PFAS signatures and also mud indicators. And if we can do an additional rehab chemically, we can avoid expensive treatment costs." The contract award transitions the project's subject matter expert to Woodard & Curran from LRE Water, ensuring continuity for the pilot's specialized technical work.