Thomasville leaders say PFAS testing shows levels 'just a little above' limit; city pursues regional grant and treatment upgrades

Thomasville officials told the city council and water board that recent tests show per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the local water supply are slightly above the regulatory maximum contaminant level (MCL), and they are pursuing state grant money and engineering work for a regional treatment project.

Mayor (speaking at the combined water board and city council meeting) said the city has done background testing and is "just a little above" the MCL. He said the city is discussing a potential regional PFAS project with state officials and that any plan would likely require years of studies and tens of millions of dollars in improvements. "We're looking at doing some updated carbon filtering pre-process before it ever gets into our process," he said, describing a treatment step intended to lower PFAS concentrations before conventional treatment.

The mayor said the city has already explored options including supplementing river intake with groundwater but concluded that groundwater near the intake could carry similar contaminants and that a pretreatment approach is preferable for long-term mitigation. Mr. Long, the water-department presenter, confirmed that the system and plant would benefit from a pretreatment step and that the projected timeline could span multiple years of studies and upgrades.

Officials cited preliminary cost estimates in the multi-million-dollar range. The mayor described a notional capital scope for the regional upgrade when speaking about broad funding needs, saying the total could be on the order of tens of millions of dollars. He added the city has identified state PFAS grant opportunities and is preparing applications that would tie local improvements to a broader regional proposal.

The city also reported other short-term operational work to support system reliability while long-term PFAS work continues. Mr. Long updated elected officials on recent repairs, including removal of an old service line and meter, two service-line leak repairs on Highway 5 North, and the installation of a new grounding field at the industrial park tank after lightning strikes. Officials said the industrial park tank is being refilled and may be back online within days to a week, which would return all tanks to service.

Next steps: the mayor said staff will continue engineering studies, seek grant funds, and coordinate with regional partners and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). Any project or expenditure remains contingent on securing grant awards and further council approvals.