The City of Vancouver, Washington, has selected Stantec, an international design and engineering firm, to develop a treatment system for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at one of its high-volume water stations. The project is intended to improve the quality and reliability of the city's drinking water.
The planned facility at Water Station 4 will be among the first in Vancouver’s system to treat PFAS. Once operational, the system is expected to treat up to 12.2 million gallons of water per day. Based on treatment capacity, this would make it the largest PFAS treatment project in the Northwestern United States.
In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a rule requiring all public water utilities to reduce PFAS levels in drinking water by 2029. Water systems will be required to begin reporting PFAS levels by 2027. In response, municipalities across the country are evaluating treatment solutions. According to industry research, the cost of implementing PFAS treatment nationwide is projected to reach approximately $40 billion.
Stantec’s design will allow the new treatment system to be incorporated into the existing Water Station 4 site while maintaining water service throughout the construction period
“Water and wastewater utilities across the US are taking important action to treat PFAS in their water supply,” said Matt Travers, Stantec executive vice president and business operating unit leader, Water. “For the City of Vancouver, we’re leveraging the strengths of our regional team along with national practitioners to address this challenge, meet regulatory standards, and provide long-term safety and reliability in the community’s drinking water supply.”
Vancouver supplies about 10.1 billion gallons of drinking water annually to over 270,000 residents across a 72-square-mile service area. In 2023, the City began testing for PFAS and determined that system upgrades were needed to comply with anticipated regulatory standards.
Stantec’s design will allow the new treatment system to be incorporated into the existing Water Station 4 site while maintaining water service throughout the construction period. Construction is scheduled to begin in October 2025, with completion targeted for early 2028, well in advance of the EPA’s compliance deadline.
Stantec is currently working with multiple public water utilities on PFAS treatment projects aimed at meeting state and federal requirements.
