Decatur Utilities drinking water meets new EPA 'forever chemical' restrictions

Eric Fleischauer, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·1 min read

Apr. 11—Decatur Utilities drinking water meets the new restrictions imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency on allowable concentrations of "forever chemicals," or PFAS.

The EPA rule announced Wednesday places a limit of 4 parts per trillion (PPT) on some PFAS chemicals and 10 PPT on others.

In its most recent report to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management on PFAS concentrations in drinking water, submitted in March, DU was within the allowable concentrations for each of the regulated PFAS chemicals.

DU drinking water was about double the EPA's new allowable concentrations in April 2022 for two of the chemicals, but said at the time that the tested water samples were collected after a heavy rain that increased turbidity in the river and resulted in runoff. DU drinking water originated in the Tennessee River and then is treated at its water treatment plant..

In every test since April 2022, DU has met EPA's new criteria.

Read more in Friday's edition of The Decatur Daily.

— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435