San Antonio Water System staff say they are not concerned about the amount of “forever chemicals” found in the city’s water system, and are urging residents not to panic about a recent report that found a SAWS well in Castle Hills was at the new federally recommended level for one such chemical.
A recent article by the Texas Tribune found that 49 public water utility systems in Texas have reported surpassing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever limits for five “forever chemicals” in drinking water — including SAWS.
However, the amount found in a Castle Hills well is extremely low, and it was the only one out of the 18 SAWS wells tested to show the chemicals at or above the federally recommended level, said Ed Guzman, SAWS vice president of environmental law and regulatory compliance.
“I really don’t think that there’s much to be concerned about in the SAWS system,” Guzman told the Report. “In Texas, there really isn’t anybody that you look at and be totally alarmed or concerned.”
“At this time, there is no indication that treatment is necessary to address the substances identified in the rule that was published this week,” SAWS said in an official emailed statement. SAWS blends water drawn from its wells during the treatment process, meaning any such chemical is likely diluted by the time it reaches customers’ taps, explained SAWS Communications Director Anne Hayden.
Guzman said the limits set by the EPA are extremely stringent compared to how prevalent these chemicals are in everyday products, and added that much of the feds’ concerns center on high levels of these products in the Northeast U.S., where manufacturing facilities next to residencies are commonplace.
“When you look at Texas versus the Northeast, where you have manufacturing facilities that do a lot of this stuff, the levels there are crazy big — I mean, they’re in the hundreds to thousands of parts-per-trillion in those areas,” he said. “We have one well that tested right at the level and you don’t drink that water directly,” he added, again referencing how SAWS blends and treats its water before it goes to tap.
SAWS will continue monitoring its wells for these chemicals and will publicly share that future data, Guzman said. He added that SAWS has tested 29 different forever chemicals since January 2023 and tests regularly for other contaminants such as E. coli, ammonia, nitrogen and lead.
What are forever chemicals?
Forever chemicals are chemicals used to make a variety of everyday products, including nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, artificial turf, food packaging and firefighting foam.
Because of their water-resistant nature, their persistence in the environment and prevalence across the country make them a unique water-quality concern, as well as a health risk.
Exposure to these chemicals — also known as PFAS or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances — has been linked to cancers, impacts to the liver and heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and children, according to the EPA.
While there are more than 12,000 types of unique forever chemicals, new standards announced by the EPA earlier this month and finalized on Friday set limits for five of them: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA.
PFOA and PFOS must abide by a limit of 4 parts per trillion while PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA must stick to a limit of 10 parts per trillion. One part per trillion is equivalent to a single drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools or one second of time in approximately 31,700 years. SAWS’ sample was exactly at the PFOS limit of 4 parts per trillion, according to EPA data.
Almost every American — one report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey estimates 97% — has some level of “forever chemicals” in their blood.
A study by the United States Geological Survey estimates that at least one type of PFAS of those that were monitored could be present in nearly half of the tap water in the U.S. The study also found that PFAS concentrations were similar between public supplies and private wells.
A federal roadmap
The EPA has mandated that all public water systems have three years to complete their initial monitoring for these chemicals and said these entities must inform the public of the level of PFAS measured in their drinking water.
Wherever PFAS is found at levels that exceed these standards, systems must implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water within five years, the EPA says.
It was during existing ongoing monitoring that the 49 Texas entities, including SAWS, discovered these chemicals at the limit or in excess, Guzman said.
The EPA estimates its new rules will reduce PFAS exposure for approximately 100 million people. To aid state and local governments come into compliance with these new rules, the White House has dedicated $9 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address PFAS and other contaminants in drinking water.
An additional $12 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law supports general drinking water investments, including PFAS treatment.
These actions fall under the EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which was launched by the EPA in October 2021.
Last week, the EPA also designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act — also known as the “Superfund” — to help ensure that polluters pay to clean up their contamination.
“President [Joe] Biden understands the threat that ‘forever chemicals’ pose to the health of families across the country,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan wrote in a press release issued Friday. “Designating these chemicals under our Superfund authority will allow EPA to address more contaminated sites, take earlier action, and expedite cleanups, all while ensuring polluters pay for the costs to clean up pollution threatening the health of communities.”
SAWS’ response
Because SAWS blends most of its water before it ever reaches customers’ taps and because the amount of PFAS found by SAWS in the Castle Hills well was extremely low, Guzman said he wants to reiterate that he and SAWS staff are not particularly worried about the test result.
“I’d also point out that the EPA is taking this incredibly seriously and has been very aggressive about setting these limits — 4 parts per trillion is about the limit of where you can reasonably test and even detect these substances,” Guzman said. “You can’t go much further below that and actually have a credible test.”
This is because so many products, from the clothing people wear to the markers they label the test with, have these chemicals in them, making it difficult to get a completely accurate reading, he said.
Testing for these forever chemicals under the newest rules will be more comprehensive, Guzman said.
SAWS’ system is also very unique since its wells draw water from different sources, added SAWS Communications Director Anne Hayden.
“The way we tend to operate the system is different than someplace like L.A. which gets everything from a reservoir, or someplace else that pulls water from one place,” she said. “We move water from all of these different places, so it’s always shifting around. That’s why we treat our water to be compatible no matter where you get it from — so yeah, we tend to blend sources, as well as our well water.”
Guzman said SAWS does not currently test customers’ water at the tap for these chemicals, due to how complicated it is to test for PFAS. A test result could be skewed by something as trivial as if the person used an air freshener that day or cleaned their kitchen, he explained.
Water tested from wells before it goes into the system helps identify contaminants early on before they are further diluted and treated for, he added.
For now, SAWS will continue to monitor wells and be ready to close any down that may exceed safe limits of forever chemicals, Guzman said.
“We know what we need to do to make sure the water is safe,” he said. “We’ll keep doing that.”
