Downingtown district disables drinking water at Brandywine Wallace after PFOA average exceeds Pennsylvania limit

Downingtown Area School District officials told the board that Brandywine Wallace Elementary's well has a running annual average of 14.73 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOA, exceeding the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's (PADEP) action level of 14 ppt and triggering required notifications and remedial steps.

District staff member Kelly Harper said the district immediately turned off drinking sources at Brandywine Wallace, supplied bottled water to the school and began required reporting to PADEP after receiving the formal notice. "When we first heard about that March 25, we chose to send out the preliminary communications to all the families that were affected," Harper said. "At that same time, we chose to go turn off all the drinking sources, and we provided bottled waters to the entire school, and we're gonna continue to replenish that as they use the water in the school."

The district presented testing context and options. Harper explained PADEP and other agencies have reduced guideline levels over time: PADEP's PFOA action level is 14 ppt (PFOS is 18 ppt), down from earlier, much higher benchmarks. Harper said Springton Manor Elementary, which also uses a well, has remained below action levels and has been deferred from required quarterly testing; Brandywine Wallace is the only school currently exceeding the PFOA running annual average.

Harper outlined short- and long-term remediation options the district is pursuing: installing a granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration system at Brandywine Wallace as an interim fix, and pursuing a public-water connection through Aqua PA/ACWA as a permanent solution. On the GAC option he said, "we can have a solution that takes those contaminants out of our water for under a hundred and 50 thousand. I'm gonna say it's not gonna exceed that number." He added that the design must be permitted by PADEP and that a vendor is finalizing design work and sampling plans for permitting.

On timing, Harper said a completed, DEP-advertised permit could allow installation quickly: "Best case scenario, we could have something functional in 45 days. But honestly, I think what's realistic, we provide bottled water to that last student day, and we finalize this over the summer so that we're not rushing... Otherwise, mid June." He also described operating needs for a long-term GAC program, including routine sampling, backwashing and media replacement, and said the district is investigating mid-flow sampling points to detect carbon-bed breakthrough sooner.

A long-term connection to ACWA/Aqua PA will require ACWA to expand its service territory through the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). Harper said the district has discussed an emergency request with ACWA and the PUC; ACWA has offered to seek expedited approval but the project would likely cost around $1 million and require a typical 6-to-9-month process to complete permitting and construction if pursued. Harper said the ACWA option "buys us time" but is not a short-term fix and that installing GAC will likely be the near-term technical solution.

Board members asked about health implications, ongoing monitoring, and whether other private wells in the neighborhood likely share similar contamination. Harper said private wells are not regulated the same way as community water systems and recommended residents test their wells voluntarily; he noted that community water systems serving fewer than 350 people had staggered reporting requirements and some local community supplies would begin reporting in 2025.

Next steps disclosed to the board: continue quarterly testing and reporting, keep drinking sources disabled until remediation succeeds, maintain bottled-water supplies for the school, finalize GAC design and permitting with DEP, and continue discussions with ACWA and the PUC about a possible public-water extension. Harper said the district has a vendor (Miller & Sons) performing sampling and that DEP approval is required for the final filtration design.

The board heard questions about lifecycle costs for an installed GAC system, the districtlong-term maintenance burden, and whether the district will seek outside funding; Harper said filter media replacement and maintenance are recurring expenses and that the district is preparing more precise cost estimates. Kelly Harper also noted that the district chose to exceed minimum regulatory requirements by shutting off drinking sources and supplying bottled water before DEP mandated further steps.

Authorities cited in the presentation included PADEP sampling and maximum contaminant level guidance for PFAS (PFOA/PFOS) and federal EPA research and guidance documents; board discussion referenced the role of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in approving water utility territory expansions.