Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Fairfax Water: PFAS found upstream of Occoquan; utility warns of roughly $389 million treatment bill and urges source controls
Summary
Fairfax Water told the county's Environmental Committee that PFOA and PFOS have been detected above forthcoming EPA limits at multiple Occoquan tributaries, that a year-long pilot of GAC and ion exchange will inform treatment selection, and that capital costs are currently estimated at about $389 million absent additional source reductions or funding.
Fairfax Water General Manager Jamie Hedges told the Environmental Committee on Oct. 29 that the utility's monitoring has identified PFOA and PFOS at levels that will prevent the Occoquan source from meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's forthcoming PFAS drinking-water standard without new treatment.
Hedges said the utility’s sampling program—conducted monthly with the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Lab at Virginia Tech—has found PFOA and PFOS above the regulatory limit at several tributary sites, including Bull Run, Cub Run and Broad Run, and that PFOA readings are about 1.5 parts per trillion above the new limit while PFOS is just under the limit. "PFAS have been called forever chemicals because they do not break down readily in the environment," Hedges said, noting the compounds move easily through the water cycle.
Why it matters: Fairfax Water serves roughly 2 million people regionally and draws about 40% of its treated water from the Occoquan Reservoir. Hedges…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
