The project is driven by new regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency last year, though the fate of those rules remain uncertain in the Trump administration
by Chris Shaddock
Philadelphia’s water agency, for now, is moving ahead with plans to reduce levels of toxic “forever” chemicals in drinking water as the fates of national and state regulations on the substances remain in limbo.
The Philadelphia Water Department is aiming to meet the standard set by the Biden administration for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which requires the city to reduce the quantity of the chemicals to below detectable levels.
The Trump administration’s rollback of discharge limits and move to eliminate bans on PFAS at the state level has made the survival of the national drinking water regulation uncertain. At the same time, some Democratic lawmakers in Pennsylvania are considering tightening the state limits on PFAS.
“We are in the wait and see,” said Matthew Fritch, the watershed protection manager for the Philadelphia Water Department. “We are still continuing as if the drinking water regulation is going to proceed as we expected it to. So we are continuing to plan, continuing to pilot, and expect to try to meet that regulation. At this point, that’s all we can do.”
The Philadelphia Water Department will need to reduce concentrations of the two most well-known chemicals – perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) – to below 4 parts per trillion (ppt) by 2029 to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standard set last year.
Five years is a short timeline to pilot, design, bid and construct the necessary technology at Philadelphia’s three water treatment plants in order to meet the regulations, Fritch said.
Then there’s the cost of the project: An estimated $2 billion, he added.
“We don’t want to place the financial burden of these upgrades on our customers,” Fritch said.
PFAS are a collection of toxic chemicals that have been linked to cause various negative health effects. They have been used in manufacturing since the 1940s to make a variety of consumer items such as nonstick cookware, food packaging, firefighting foam, stain resistant textiles and waterproof clothing.
“Because they’re resistant to all these different things, it makes them a really great consumer product, but it also means that they persist in the environment,” said Kelly Smalling, a research hydrologist of the United States Geological Survey.
Because they do not break down easily in the environment, PFAS have been found in the air and soil, as well as 45 percent of the country’s drinking water, according to a study by USGS.
They can get stuck in people’s bodies, with 97% of Americans having some PFAS in their bloodstream, according to a 2015 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overexposure to them can increase the chances of cancer, thyroid disease, and developmental issues in children.
Pennsylvania’s current standards regulate PFOA and PFOS at concentrations of 14 and 18 parts per trillion, respectively.
“Our number one concern is the health of our customers, and we agree that EPA has made sound scientific decisions on the risks posed by PFAS chemicals to human health,” Fritch said.
Complex cost
A significant challenge in improving Philadelphia’s filtration of forever chemicals is figuring out who should pay for it.
Treating PFAS leaves behind a waste that the EPA classified as hazardous last year, which increases the cost of disposal, Fritch said.
There are also costs associated with monitoring PFAS and performing the lab analyses to measure their concentrations, he added. Those costs are often passed on to customers through increased rates and water bills.
The city received some funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021, but even combined with state funding, it is not enough to cover the project’s price tag, Fritch said.
Another source of funding is from lawsuits against industrial polluters. Philadelphia filed suit against 3M Company, DuPont, Tyco Fire Company and other chemical companies for contamination of the city’s properties and natural resources as a result of PFAS compounds.
The lawsuit was quickly consolidated into a class-action involving public water utilities across the country and settled last year, with 3M agreeing to pay at least $10.3 billion to the utilities in payouts through 2036.
Philadelphia has received some of that money so far, but it is a “small fraction” of what is needed to cover the costs required to reach the EPA standards, Fritch said.
“Polluters should pay for the harm caused by producing these chemicals,” Fritch said.
State of PFAS contamination
The water department monitors the amount of PFAS in the drinking water at its three treatment plants: Baxter in Torresdale, Queen Lane in East Falls, and Belmont in Wynnefield Heights. Belmont and Queen Lane draw from the Schuylkill – where approximately 58% of the city’s water supply comes from – while Baxter draws from the Delaware.
Philadelphia is well under the state regulation for PFAS: Belmont and Queen Lane’s PFOA concentrations hovered around 6 parts per trillion over the previous year as of April 15, while PFOS concentrations at both plants were roughly at or below the EPA limit of 4 parts per trillion.
Baxter, meanwhile, had no detectable PFAS concentrations, which Fritch attributes to the larger size of the Delaware and differences in the types of industries along the river.
The water department is currently in its pilot phase of upgrading its PFAS filtration at Belmont, testing two treatments for a year to prove the technologies work, Fritch said.
Surrounding counties have dealt with more fallout from PFAS compared to Philadelphia. Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority found PFAS contaminants as high as 47 parts per trillion in its Solebury location, WHYY reported, while in Chester and Delaware counties, AQUA PA recently filed a lawsuit against a chemical manufacturer alleging it contaminated a creek that provides drinking water for thousands.
How To Reduce PFAS Intake
Where residents’ water comes from depends on how close they are to each plant. A searchable map shows which parts of the city are served by which plant.
The best way to reduce the amount of PFAS in drinking water at home is to use a specialized filter. Many common water filters do not effectively reduce or get rid of PFAS; Environmental Work Group identified four filters that eliminated 98 percent or higher amounts of PFAS in water.
Bottled water is not necessarily freer of PFAS as bottled water manufacturers are not required to test for it, according to the EPA.