The EPA is finally beginning to act on the serious issue of these chemicals. As expressed below in the article, if these are only six of the fourteen thousand, it is a very slow beginning. At least now there will [eventually] be need for compliance, although far in the future.
Already there is concern about cost, which is always a poor excuse when it comes to the environment but one politicians over-use.
Read the original article here in Florida Weekly.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
New water standards present challenge
Proposed regulations are intended to reduce PFAS
A new proposed regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency released March 14 is set to cause a tidal wave of water compliance issues in every water system throughout the country, including those that supply your drinking water.Titled EPA-HQ-OW-2022-0114, the regulation is intended to address the problem of PFAS in drinking water supplies. These harmful chemicals, which are causing widespread contamination and serious health issues across the country, are not only universally found in water supplies, but are nearly impossible to destroy. How municipal water systems will comply with the new regulations if put into effect presents daunting challenges both in implementing effective water filtration technology and in figuring out who will foot the bill for the exorbitant cost of this technology.
In use since the 1940s, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are comprised of thousands of manmade chemicals used in consumer products such as fast-food packaging, nonstick cookware, waterproof makeup, clothing, adhesives, plastics, firefighting foam and more. PFAS accumulate over time in the water, air and soil and have even been found in human blood. Exposure can be through the use of consumer products, through occupational exposure or through consuming food or drinking water that contains PFAS. Scientific studies have shown that exposure to PFAS can cause negative effects on a person’s health. Depending on the specific type of PFAS a person is exposed to, health effects can range from increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease to liver and kidney damage to impact on fetal growth during pregnancy.
The new proposed regulation attempts to address this public health crisis by requiring public water systems to monitor for six PFAS chemicals in water supplies, notify the public if the levels these chemicals exceed the proposed regulatory standards and take action to reduce that level when found to be above those standards.
Currently, the EPA provides a guideline for water systems to follow regarding PFAS filtration. This guideline directs water systems to filter for two types of PFAS, known as PFOA and PFOS, to 70 ppt (parts per trillion) combined. This is a guideline only, with no legal ramifications for those water systems not in compliance.
The new proposed plan would create the first-ever national standards for drinking water specifically. It would require municipal water systems to maintain a standard of just 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS individually rather than combined. It would also establish a hazard index calculation for four other types of PFAS to monitor their combined levels for potential health risks. The new standards would go into effect by the end of the year with the mandate that municipalities be compliant within three years. Municipalities not in compliance would now face legal ramifications.
Costly change….
Removal of PFAS requires one of three filtration techniques. Carbon filtration uses granular activated carbon, which acts like a sponge, removing contaminants as the water passes through it. Through the process of adsorption, PFAS are essentially adhered to the carbon. According to the EPA, carbon has been shown to be effective in removing PFAS given the right circumstances. EPA researcher Thomas Speth says, “GAC can be 100% effective for a period of time, depending on the type of carbon used, the depth of the bed of carbon, flow rate of the water, the specific PFAS you need to remove, temperature, and the degree and type of organic matter as well as other contaminants, or constituents, in the water.”
A second type of carbon filtration – powered activated carbon — is used by the city of West Palm Beach Public Utilities in addition to ultraviolet filtration. This type of carbon filtration uses the same material as GAC, but smaller in size and powder-like. It is added to the water and then removed with a second method of treatment. Speth says that powder activated carbon is less effective than granular activated carbon “Even at very high PAC doses with the very best carbon, it is unlikely to remove a high percentage PFAS; however, it can be used for modest% removals.”
The second method of filtration, membrane or reverse osmosis filtration, uses pressure to force water molecules through semipermeable membranes, removing contaminants as the water passes through. According to the EPA’s report, membrane filtration is typically more than 90% effective at removing a wide range of PFAS. Membrane filtration generates a large waste stream (about 20% of the water flow is considered waste) so this technology can be challenging for large municipalities that have to discard mass quantities of contaminated water. The village of Tequesta uses reverse osmosis for its water treatment.
The last filtration option is ion exchange treatment or resins. Positively charged ions are used to attract the negatively charged PFAS contaminants, removing them from the water supply. The process known as AER has shown to be effective in removing a high-capacity of PFAS, however the technology is much more costly than other options. Boynton Beach uses ion technology in its east water treatment facility.
With each of these three filtration methods, the level of removal depends on the level of filtration, which varies widely in each of these methods. The MIEX technology that Boynton Beach uses has three different products with increasing levels of filtration and increasing costs.
Picking up contaminants
According to Moore, filtering at the source doesn’t mean the water in your home will be free from contamination. Once the water leaves the plant, it still must travel to your home. She describes the water as “hungry” after it’s been filtered at the plant and points out that it travels through underground pipes that are often old and run through the same environments where contaminants may have originated.
Moore works side by side with industry professionals at the WQA who specialize in POU (point of use) and POE (point of entry) water treatment solutions. Moore’s company has installed thousands of these filtration systems throughout South Florida which filter water as it comes into a home or business. With over 2,500 member companies, even the WQA is concerned about how the industry will comply with a 4ppt mandate for PFAS and how smaller municipalities will foot the bill. In a statement issued on May 30, WQA cautioned “Treatment of PFAS to the proposed levels will introduce significant new challenges for small community water systems.” Moore says that currently some POU and POE systems can filter to 20 ppt of PFAS and PFOS combined. Getting to 4 ppt for each individually will require industry professionals to invest heavily in new technologies.
And the challenge doesn’t end there. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals,” a term used to describe chemicals that are highly stable and resistant to degradation in the environment. PFAS are nearly impossible to destroy because of their strong carbon-fluorine bonds. “So, you filter all this out then how do you dispose of it? It doesn’t break down and we don’t know what to do with it,” says Moore.
This is a problem researchers are working on. “The current way that people will try to dispose of that contain PFAS is to incinerate them, but there has been evidence that these incinerators are actually just blowing the PFAS around the community in which the incinerator is located,” says Brittany Trang, a researcher at Northwestern University who co-authored a study on PFAS. “So, there’s a need for a method to get rid of PFAS in a way that does not continue to pollute.” Researchers have seen some promising results in the ability to destroy PFAS using a combination of sodium hydroxide or lye, a chemical used to make soap, and dimethyl sulfoxide, a chemical approved as medication for bladder pain syndrome and exposure to high temperatures. Once again, the research and implementation of this process is costly.
Environmental protection organizations are quick to point out that the EPA’s proposed limits do little to mitigate a much larger problem. In a statement released on March 14, 2023, in response to the EPA’s announcement, Public Employees for Environmental Protection (PEER) stated that the proposed drinking water limits do not go far enough. “EPA’s proposed regulations are baby steps forward, but are too little and too late,” said Kyla Bennett, PEER’s director of science policy, noting that at least 14,000 PFAS have been identified and the proposed regulation addresses just six of them. “The few PFAS we have studied are toxic, and all PFAS are persistent, so to protect human health and the environment, EPA needs to turn off the PFAS tap as soon as possible.” PEER is the same organization that in October 2020 released a report warning of PFAS in Delray Beach’s municipal water supply. At the time, levels were 49 ppt within the 70 ppt guidance by the EPA.
The city of Stuart is among 300 communities that filed suit against chemical manufacturer 3M and other companies who manufacture firefighting foam and other consumer products. When the city discovered PFAS in three of its 24 wells, an investigation found that a nearby training facility for firefighters where fire-retardant foam was used was the source of the contamination. The foam seeped underground and eventually into the city’s wells. The case was scheduled for trial, but under a $10.3 billion settlement reached in June, the city is expected to receive tens of millions, which will off- set the expense of a new water treatment system using ion exchange (IX) resin and granular activated carbon. Designed by Kimley-Horn, a national design consultancy firm with offices in Delray Beach that specializes in public infrastructure, the system is the first IX water treatment system of its kind permitted and constructed in Florida and the largest to be installed and placed into operation in the United States.
None of the proposed regulations apply to the nearly 23 million homes nationwide who rely on groundwater delivered through private wells for their drinking water. On March 15, 2023, Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Healthy Drinking Water Affordability Act or The Healthy H2O Act The bill proposes providing grants to conduct water quality testing and funding for the installation of POE or POU water treatment systems in rural communities. The House version of the bill is expected to be considered soon.
It comes down to government being reactive rather than proactive in addressing the problem, says Moore. She points out that while PFOA and PFOS have been largely phased out of product manufacturing, a new group of PFAS chemicals called GenX are now being used. The PFAS problem will not be solved with one regulation.
