March 2009

U.S. Water News Online

RIO RANCHO, N.M. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is helping build water treatment systems that will reduce arsenic levels in water used by thousands of Rio Rancho and Bernalillo residents.

The Corps says the systems are designed to be a relatively inexpensive way water utilities can reduce arsenic levels from the old federal standard of 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion.

The agency has spent $9 million for each community as part of a cost-sharing agreement. Still, officials say there is $24 million worth of work to do.

Arsenic occurs naturally in volcanic soils, which are common in New Mexico. It leaches from the soil into groundwater, the main source of drinking water for many towns and rural residents in New Mexico and other parts of the West.

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