Goodyear officials work on water treatment issues, assure residents water is safe

We’re doing something about it. It’s safe. Please don’t worry.”

Vicki Gillis, Goodyear City Council Member

By Delarita Ford
Mail | X: @AzNewsmedia

While efforts are underway to “bring levels back down,” from chemicals that exceeded its average limit in Goodyear water, the mayor and city council members want residents to know the water is safe to drink.

Council members, minus Wally Campbell who was absent, unanimously agreed during the Sept. 28 meeting to authorize city Water Services Director Barbara Chappell to enter a consent order agreement with the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department to take appropriate actions regarding total trihalomethane levels in the city's water.

That would include monitoring, reporting and running the annual average regarding exceeding the allowable levels in ground and surface water, according to the city.

Chappell explained the plan to get the system back in compliance by the end of October since the city received a detailed letter in May, noting how it violated water standards by exceeding TTHM levels.

A consent order was advised, requiring installing and operating trailer-mounted granular-activated carbon vessels within 120 days, monthly sampling, and compliance with federal and state regulations.

According to a staff report, the $2 million cost to buy and install two trailer-mounted granular-activated carbon vessels referenced in the consent order to use savings from two Water Services Department brine management projects, which were previously approved by the council on Aug. 31 and Sept. 14. The annual maintenance costs are estimated at about $100,000.

“I do want to stress getting it back and in compliance as soon as possible,” said Chappell, noting the county can increase enforcement and fines up to $10,000 daily.

Chappell, the council and Mayor Joe Pizzillo assured residents they “don’t need to do anything,” since the water is safe to drink and use as normal, and the city would notify people within 24 hours via larger broadcasts if it was more of an emergency.

“It’s safe equipment on the way to get it under control,” said Pizzillo before the 6-0 vote.

Reiterating how the drinking water is safe, Council Member Vicki Gillis said certain residents in the Estrella area will receive a letter, however, clarifying about the carbon treatment plant that will be installed to counter a previous letter issued that may have caused some confusion.

“We’re doing something about it. It’s safe. Please don’t worry,” said Gillis.

The city is handling the water issue, she added.

“I also live in that area, so that really is a concern for me,” Council Member Benita Beckles said. “We are getting this equipment, and obviously it is not cheap.”

Meanwhile, the consent order requires the city to undertake monthly testing plus the required quarterly testing once the the two GAC treatment vessels are approved for construction.

However, if the TTHM levels in the four quarterly compliance samples taken afterwards do not result in TTHM exceedances, the city will be relieved of its obligations to conduct monthly testing and can seek to terminate the consent order.

Chappell earlier discussed how TTHM is a group of disinfection byproducts formed when chlorine reacts with naturally occurring organic material in the city’s water system, which consists of groundwater and surface water sources impacted by water quality, time, water age and summer temperatures.

Groundwater typically shows very low organics, Chappell stated, while surface water can experience increased levels from algae, bacteria and aquatic plants present in lakes and canals.

The report described TTHM species of chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and bromoform, which are all volatile, but can be reduced through an aeration process.

The least volatile, bromoform, is noted to be more difficult to remove through aeration. Because of the typical organic content levels in the city’s surface water, aeration systems were installed at two of the city’s potable water storage tanks — reservoirs 13 and 23 — when the city’s surface water treatment facility began in 2022.

The city’s surface water source recently has seen higher levels of bromoform, making the existing aeration and treatment systems less effective in mitigating TTHM levels.

“Other Valley water providers are experiencing similar conditions and similar elevated TTHM levels,” said Chappell, refraining from naming the four other cities affected.

Council Member Trey Terry mentioned to Chappell that it was a minimal difference between the quarterly TTHM readings compared to the running annual average as the city measured about 0.086 versus the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level of 0.080 parts per million.

Previous exceedances in the second and third quarters of 2026 triggered two public notifications within 30 days of the violations.

“We are trying to knock out more of the organics. We are trying to focus on getting additional organics out,” Terry said.

Delarita Ford can be reached at dford@iniusa.org. Submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Delarita Ford
Lead Reporter | Surprise

dford@iniusa.org

Meet Delarita
Delarita Ford originally joined Independent Newspapers Incorporated, now Independent Newsmedia, Inc. USA in 1997, as a general assignment reporter for the Delaware State News daily paper after starting her journalism career in Maryland in 1994, where she honed her skills by writing obituaries, covering community news from births to deaths, education to legislation and more. As a reporter, she has had the opportunity to cover sitting and former U.S. presidential visits in Baltimore, Delaware, and Arizona.

Community: One of the few seasoned journalists who still enjoys covering community events, she can be found with a reporter’s pad taking notes, her phone taking pictures while capturing life’s moments to memorialize them in print for the local newspapers and for the active-adult community where she lives. She maintains a presence with the Black media and the National Association of Black Journalists to encourage peers, socialize, and mentor younger writers.

Education: Life learner who learns from life. Aside from the collegiate education received, she got the best training from on-the-job experience with former editors who went through copy with a red pen and demanded the best writing for hard news and feature stories. 

Random Fact: While a Delaware State News reporter, she could call then Sen. Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, usually late at night if a quote or input was needed for varying topics, including legislation and education.

Hobbies: Adopt rescue dogs and give them a nice home. Continuously read and critique news stories from various platforms.