Inver Grove Heights addresses elevated radium levels in drinking water

Maraya King, Pioneer Press
·2 min read

Residents of Inver Grove Heights have been notified of elevated radium levels in the town’s drinking water.

The problem is attributed to sand filters at the water treatment plant that are due for replacement.

The Minnesota Department of Health notified the city on Jan. 30 that the radium levels in the city’s water were out of compliance, said public works director Brian Connolly. The city’s residents received notices in the mail on Feb. 15.

According to the city notice, radium levels from October water samples at the Inver Grove Heights Water Treatment Plant were 6.0 picoCuries per liter, exceeding the maximum contaminant level of 5.4 pCi/L.

“Small amounts of radium occur naturally in air, water, and soil, and radium levels in groundwater fluctuate over time,” wrote the notice.

When radium breaks down it creates radiation, and individuals who drink water with elevated levels of radium every day for years can be at a higher risk of cancer, according to the Health Department.

Water quality meeting

A community meeting was held on Tuesday where Connolly said the goal was to be transparent.

Karla Peterson, a public health engineer for the state Department of Health, spoke at the meeting and said, “Ideally, we would have known by December 2022 if there was or wasn’t an issue, but there were some problems at the laboratory, so we didn’t realize until January that there was an exceedance.”

Residents voiced their concerns and asked numerous questions during the meeting, including why the radium rates are increasing and if other cities in the area are also experiencing increases.

The increase in Inver Grove Height’s water, according to the Health Department, has to do with the treatment plant’s sand filters, which work to remove radium.

No other nearby cities have exceeded the maximum contaminant level, according to the Health Department, but Peterson said they could be headed in the same direction due to the age of treatment plants.

Next steps

For a short-term solution, Connolly said the city has brought in an independent chemist who is analyzing the water treatment plant and providing recommendations.

In February, they made adjustments to the chemical treatment process to address the radium levels, Connolly said.

The long-term solution is to replace the treatment plant’s sand filters, which were constructed in 1998, Connolly said, and intended to last 20 years.

The sand filter replacement will begin later this year and end in 2024, costing around $2.8 million, Connolly said.

In the meantime, he said, Inver Grove Heights water is safe to drink.

“The water in our community is safe to drink, cook with and bathe with,” Connolly said. “If it wasn’t safe, we wouldn’t be distributing it.”

The city addressed some frequently asked questions at www.ighmn.gov/1464/Water-Notice-FAQs.

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