Concerns remain among area officials in eliminating PFAS
Funding, selecting treatment options top list at meeting.
Federal Environmental Protection Agency leaders called one local county a “pioneer” in the fight to reduce harm related to forever chemical contamination in drinking water, and environmental and water treatment officials have pointed to more work needed to remove these toxic, man-made chemicals from drinking water.
Officials from both the U.S. and Ohio EPA met at Warren County’s Richard Renneker water treatment plant on Wednesday to hear from water treatment professionals about their concerns surrounding per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and drinking water.
Concerns among leaders from Warren County and communities surrounding Cincinnati, across the board, dealt with securing funding for costly treatment upgrades and selecting treatment options that will keep their drinking water safe in their communities.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill has laid out a billion dollars nationally that can cover costs related to forever chemical remediation. A portion of this is dedicated solely to Ohio.
But water treatment officials fear that isn’t enough.
“Ohio has that $82 million relatively laid out, and that sounds like a lot,” said Warren County sanitary engineer Chris Brausch. “But these projects are millions of dollars. Litigation will also only cover so much. For our ratepayers, the fear is this will fall on them.”
The U.S. EPA adopted maximum contamination levels of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for the two most common types of PFAS (PFOS and PFOA) in April. The EPA’s new PFAS standards also include limits of 10 ppt for a class of PFAS called GenX chemicals and other forever chemicals variations.
Beginning in 2029, public water systems that have PFAS in drinking water at levels over one or
more of these limits will be required to take action to reduce levels of these PFAS in their drinking water. The U.S. EPA will also require notification to the public of every violation.
“These are stringent standards, but there are tools to reach them,” said U.S. EPA Region 5 administrator Debra Shore. Her region encompasses several Midwestern states, including Ohio.
Statewide, multiple factors contribute to forever chemical contamination in drinking water. Specifically in the Dayton area and surrounding communities, aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) used during firefighting training and at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base pose a problem to drinking water, Shore said.
“But there’s a variety of factors that contribute to PFAS contamination,” Shore said. “There are manufacturers that use it in their products. It was used to make Teflon. Even some paper mills used it. It’s difficult to pinpoint every source.”
Some public water system operators already have plans in the works to address PFAS contamination in their drinking water. Warren County’s water treatment facility will add a $9 million ion exchange water treatment system to its treatment processes.
Brausch said this effort will put the water treatment facility into compliance with the new rules by 2025 — four years ahead of the deadline.
Ion exchange has proven to be highly effective in filtering PFAS out of water. Warren County water treatment officials have already completed another $45 million in work specifically geared toward PFAS remediation, Brausch said.
This includes a nanofiltration system, which softens water and filters out PFAS to a degree.
With the upcoming ion exchange system, Brausch says his department is seeking a PFAS concentration of zero in its drinking water.
Warren County’s Richard Renneker water system in 2021 was tested for PFAS, showing levels nearly as high as 50 ppt. New systems put in place at the water treatment facilities that serve people living in Lebanon and other parts of Warren County saw samplings of 8 ppt and less of forever chemicals in 2022.
Chris Frey, the assistant administrator for research and development at the U.S. EPA, said Warren County is ahead in the effort to eliminate PFAS from drinking water.
He said in the agency’s decades of engagement with communities regarding water contaminants, their desires are consistent: solutions should be practical, affordable and operable with existing staff.
“For many, it will be a challenge to figure out what is the right technology. Not just for now, but 10 years from now,” Brausch said.