Hundreds of public water suppliers have wells containing toxic “forever chemicals” at levels over regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency in April.
Recent testing data by the EPA released earlier this month show at least 40 water suppliers across Pennsylvania have tested at or above the agencies limits for a family of thousands of compounds typically referred to under the umbrella term PFAS.
In April, the EPA set a Maximum Contaminant Level for two of the most common compounds, PFOA and PFOS, at 4 parts per trillion. Three other PFAS compounds — PFNA, PFHxS, and Gen X chemicals — each of an MCL of 10 ppt.
A mixture of those last three compounds, including another compound called PFBS, is also considered over the limit if it is detected at any level.
The formerly unregulated chemicals were first invented in the 1940s and became nearly ubiquitous compounds used in consumer and industrial products for decades.
Millions drinking forever chemicals:70 million Americans drink water from systems reporting PFAS to EPA. Is yours on our map?
Over the years, PFAS has been linked to different types of cancer, low birth weights, thyroid disease and other health conditions.
Public water suppliers testing at or above the new EPA limits will have three years to come into compliance and will have to regularly monitor for the contaminants.
PFAS in Bucks County
Bucks County residents are no strangers to the impact of PFAS contamination.
A mass shutdown of public and private drinking water wells in Warrington, Warminster and Horsham, in Montgomery County, followed national testing results for emerging contaminants in May 2016.
Three nearby military bases had for decades used firefighting foams containing PFAS, resulting in the three Bucks and Montgomery county towns testing several hundred times higher than a previous Health Advisory Level of 70 ppt for PFOA and PFOS.
Officials in the three towns immediately set out to provide drinking water with no detectable levels of PFAS by purchasing water from an outside vendor and installing filtration systems to remediate the groundwater contamination.
The most recent data from the EPA, testing thousands of water suppliers across the country, show only a few water suppliers in Bucks County testing at or above the new stricter MCL for regulated PFAS.
EPA sets new PFAS limits:Years after PFAS rocks Bucks County, Montco towns, EPA sets near-zero detection limit
A water connection for Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority Main Lower South on Woodbourne Road tested on Feb. 6, 2024, showed 5.8 ppt for PFOS and 6.4 ppt for PFOA.
Two wells in the Upper Southampton Municipal Authority system tested between 3.2 to 4.1 times the 4 ppt MCL for PFOA and PFOS in test results taken on July 21 and Jan. 23 last year.
The Newtown Artesian Water Company also tested about 2 to 3 times over the MCL for PFOA and PFOS when samples were collected in January.
Newtown Artesian CEO Dan Angrove told this news organization Friday that the company recieved all its necessary approvals in April to build an additional treatment building to reduce the PFAS chemicals in its water supply.
Currently in the design phase, the building should see construction through 2025 with an “in service target date” set for March 2026, Angrove said. The new filtration systems should bring PFAS levels down to non-detect once completed.
The Falls Township Water and Sewer Department and the Warminster Municipal Authority didn’t show any signs of the newly regulated PFAS.
A well in the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority system showed levels of 15.1 ppt for PFOA and 12.5 ppt for PFOS, about 3.8 and 3.1 times above the MCL, respectively.
Authority Business Manager Tina O’Rourke told this news organization that the sampling is for Well 21 was taken this past February, when the well was under construction for a new filtration system.
Well 21 is listed on the authority’s website as one of three in the “final phase” of its remediation plan, which included the construction of filtration systems before the wells were put back into the water supply.
O’Rourke said that the well was put back into service in April.
How can I see whether my water is affected?
USA Today has created a searchable map that shows where higher-than-allowed levels were found.
boundaries developed by SimpleLab, a water-testing company. Points represent systems where the exact boundaries are not available.
Enter an address to locate the nearest water systems. Then click on a system to review its PFAS detections.
Has my water system found PFAS?
USA Today reporters Austin Fast and Cecilia Garzella contributed to this report.
Chris Ullery is the Philadelphia Hub Data Reporter for the USA Today Network. Reach him at cullery@couriertimes.com or find him on Twitter at @ulleryatinell.