Plainfield Charter Township recently announced that the State of Michigan awarded the Township a $4.3 million grant to extend municipal drinking water to an additional 147 homes that were not included in the 2020 settlement with Wolverine Worldwide, but that are affected by PFAS in their private wells. Prein&Newhof helped Plainfield Township apply for this Consolidation and Contamination Risk Reduction (C2R2) Grant in January 2021. “We are very happy with the news and excited to continue helping Plainfield Township in this meaningful way,” said Prein&Newhof Project Manager Kevin Gritters, PE.
“This is another positive step in a major, multi-year project to bring municipal drinking water to over 1,000 contaminated properties spread across two townships,” said Gritters. “Last year Plainfield Township was able to add nearly 5 miles of watermain in the public right-of-way, which connected 250 homes to safe drinking water by the end of the construction season. This year, we have been working to help Plainfield Township add another 9 miles of watermain for 300 more homes to be able to connect to its drinking water system. Now with this C2R2 Grant, we can construct an additional 2 miles of water main in the next three years—connecting four more neighborhoods to the municipal water system.”
In 2018, Plainfield Township began a pilot study to remove PFAS from source water at its Drinking Water Treatment Plant. Granulated activated carbon (GAC) material was installed in the water plant’s filtration beds to replace existing rapids sand filters. Following the GAC installation, intensive analytical testing showed that GAC was highly effective at removing PFAS compounds.
In the Spring of 2020, construction began to extend water connections to residents who had the highest levels of PFAS contamination in private wells. Affected properties were prioritized based on PFAS concentrations and water system layout. Last year, contractors connected 250 residential properties (green on the map) to the Township’s municipal water system. Plans are in progress for the remaining properties (blue) to be connected in the next 1–3 years. Recently added are the properties that will be covered by the C2R2 Grant (red):
- Butternut and Bittersweet neighborhood (2021 construction)
- Woodwater and Rapidfall neighborhood (2022 construction)
- Mall, Ripley, and Austerlitz neighborhood (2022 construction)
- Warwick Glen Drive (2023 construction)
This year, contractors are or will be constructing water system extensions in Plainfield and Algoma Townships. You can follow each area’s construction updates here:
- Belmont Avenue, Pixley Avenue, Van Dam Drive
- Elstner Avenue, 11 Mile Road, Wolven Avenue (Algoma Township)
- Packer Drive
- Herrington Avenue, Meek Drive, Sprucewood, Pine Hill Drive