Passaic Valley Water Commission planning to meet new EPA drinking water guidelines by 2029

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Clifton, N.J. – April 25, 2024) – This month, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) issued the first-ever national, legally enforceable drinking water standard to protect communities from exposure to harmful per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals.’ These manufactured chemicals can be found in food packaging, non-stick cookware, stain-resistant fabrics, stain resistant carpets and firefighting foam.  Over time, PFAS naturally breaks down and accumulates in air, soil and water and can be ingested by the human body. Identified health risks include reproductive issues, developmental delays in children, increased cancer risks, compromised immune function, hormonal interference, elevated cholesterol, and liver damage.

Last week, Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC) was featured in a News 12 New Jersey story, where Executive Director Jim Mueller explained how PVWC is planning to comply with the new federal drinking water mandate. PVWC would like to remind its customers that it has been successfully removing PFAS since August 2022, when the company completed the installation of a resin ion exchange system to remove high levels of PFAS in West Milford’s Nosenzo Pond well system. This system complies with the new federal regulations for PFAS.

The difference between Nosenzo Pond and the PVWC Little Falls Water Treatment Plant (LFWTP) is the volume of water treated. Since the amount of water treated is significantly larger at the LFWTP (80 million gallons per-day), PVWC worked with an external consultant, Cornwell Engineers, and the Water Research Foundation (WRF), to develop a pilot testing program to evaluate options to remove additional PFAS at the LFWTP. The pilot began operation in February 2024 and WRF is performing a national peer review using subject matter experts to review the methodology of the pilot testing program and validate the results. PVWC will be using the results of the pilot program to identify optimization opportunities for the existing treatment process as well as necessary upgrades to comply with the new PFAS standards by the 2029 deadline.

PVWC will keep its customers updated regularly on water quality via annual consumer confidence reports (CCRs), press releases, and social media. The company is also looking to continue hosting town hall meetings for customers to engage with our water professionals.

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