The people of Keyes don’t have to be “afraid of the faucet,” according to Keyes Community Services District general manager Ernie Garza who heralded improvements to the town’s water system.
Earlier this month, construction began on a long-awaited water filtration project in Keyes to eliminate the chemical called 1,2,3-trichloropropane from compromising the drinking water system. In 1992, 123 TCP was added to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer, pursuant to California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. It has been used as a cleaning and degreasing solvent and also is associated with pesticide products, according to the state.
“Keyes residents need to know that we’re going to have the best and safest water ever,” said Garza. “There will be no need for Keyes residents to buy bottled water,” said Garza, who explained that for one penny customers can buy one gallon of water from the KCSD, which is way more cost effective than spending over $1 per gallon at the store.
“A lot of people here don’t trust the faucet because of all the horror stories they’ve heard about people getting sick,” said Garza, who drinks all his water from the faucet even now. “We’re really blessed to not have to worry about our water being contaminated.”
The majority of funding for the $15 million Keyes project comes from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law ($10 million). Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2022, approximately $29.9 billion has been announced for transportation – to invest in roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports – and roughly $3 billion has been announced for clean water and water infrastructure. California received $3.7 billion to connect everyone in the state to reliable high-speed internet.
The remaining funding for the Keyes water project comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through an agreement with the state water resources control board and from the district itself.
The Keyes project received funding from the infrastructure bill in 2022, but due to delays in getting the plans approved, the construction price increased and the district had to seek further funding from the state.
Two years later the empty lot on the corner of Brianna and Jennie avenues, next the Keyes Community Center, is being made ready for the placement of the granular activated carbon filter tanks.
All of Keyes’ drinking water comes from four groundwater wells. The well water is treated at the district’s arsenic treatment plant before being piped into homes and businesses. When the 123 TCP filtration system is completed — estimated right now at December 2025 — water from the wells will be piped into the new filtration system before going to the arsenic treatment plant and then to customers’ faucets.
Garza explains more about the project in a video that can viewed in English at: https://youtu.be/j8WOGqSEJvk and in Spanish at: https://youtu.be/sxe_5jl-Nvo
