Wednesday, Feb 2 2011 11:14PM
A rural California community is using grant money to improve the safety of its drinking water.
A water and sewer system in a rural California community is set to receive a $670,000 loan from the county to help pay off debts and fund repairs, reported the Appeal Democrat.
Sutter County is financing the loan for the town of Robbins, which needs the money to pay off debts through June 2012. The funding will also be used to repair aging pipes and go toward improvements to meet the state's newly tightened water-quality standards, according to the newspaper.
The Robbins water district is also expected to receive a $800,000 grant from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, with the paper reporting that a majority of the grant will be used to replace rusty water pipes, improve the wastewater treatment system and remove arsenic from the town's water supply to comply with California regulations.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arsenic is a naturally occurring element that can enter drinking water supplies through either industrial or agricultural pollution. Exposure to high levels of arsenic can increase the risk of certain cancers or other chronic ailments.