PFAs & Drinking Water

PFAS & Drinking Water

During 2018 the FTDWD staff has taken thousands of water samples in order to determine the presence of biological, inorganic, volatile organic or synthetic organic contaminants. These samples were taken at the reservoirs, the treatment plant, and the well field and also at representative sample sites around the distribution system. The table below shows only those regulated substances that were detected in the treated water. All of the substances found meet all state and federal standards. The most recent year samples are noted in the table, below.

2018 Water Sampling

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that have been manufactured and used in a variety of industries in the United States since the 1940s. PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced and studied of these chemicals. Both chemicals are very persistent in the environment and in the human body, meaning they don’t break down and they can accumulate over time. Although PFOA and PFOS are no longer manufactured in the United States, they are still produced internationally and can be imported into the United States in consumer goods such as carpet, leather and apparel, textiles, paper and packaging, coatings, rubber and plastics.

There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to adverse human health effects. The State of Connecticut Department of Public Health has set the limit for safe PFAS levels in drinking water to be 70 parts per trillion. The FTDWD has adopted operational measures to minimize all levels in our drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently developed a PFAS Action Plan and is working toward creating a MCL for PFAS. At this time, the FTDWD is using the EPA and CT DPH health advisory level of 70 ppt and has been proactively sampling its water for the presence of PFAS. The FTDWD’s water has tested well below these levels (see PFAS table), and will continue to be monitored.