Connecticut Water details PFAS treatment plan, seeks WQTA cost-recovery review from PURA

Connecticut Water Company presented its 2025 water quality and treatment assessment (WQTA) at a Public Utilities Regulatory Authority technical meeting to outline a program of proposed projects and a cost‑recovery process aimed at meeting federal PFAS requirements by the current compliance date of April 2029.

The company told Authority staff the submission lists 35 potential projects, organized in four priority tiers, with 26 in the top two tiers that the company views as near‑term priorities. Connecticut Water estimated the collective program as “roughly $200 million” in capital spending and said it plans annual WQTA surcharge filings for recovery while continuing to refine project scope and design.

Why it matters: EPA’s PFAS regulation establishes a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 4 parts per trillion (ppt) measured at the point of entry to the distribution system, based on a running annual average. Connecticut Water and Authority staff discussed how that rule, sampling frequency, and site‑specific data will determine which sources require treatment and when the company must act.

Company and staff said the federal regulation went into effect in April 2024 and that initial monitoring is underway. David Pilling, Connecticut Water’s vice president of engineering and operations, summarized the compliance framework: “The regulation for PFAS went into effect in 2024…there’s a 3 year period from ’24 to 2027 [for monitoring], and then from 2027 to 2029 for full compliance.” He added that the company is collecting point‑of‑entry samples and that the running annual average is the determinative metric.

PFAS testing and detection limits Connecticut Water told PURA staff it has preliminary samples for nearly every routinely used source…