Weymouth mayor says new treatment plant gives town capacity to address PFAS in drinking water

Mayor Robert Headin said Weymouth’s recently constructed treatment plant at Great Pond gives the town the ability to install filtration systems designed to reduce PFAS — the so-called “forever chemicals” — and said the town is currently below what he described as a safe level.

“That plant gives the water department the ability to put filtering systems in that are able to address the PFAS issue,” Headin said in the pre-recorded Ask the Mayor program. He acknowledged, however, that PFAS are widespread and that their long-term health effects are still not fully understood.

The question came from a resident who cited a recent report showing about 170 water systems in the state have detected PFAS above legal limits and who asked whether Weymouth had mitigated contamination by using filters, finding alternate supplies, or blending sources. Headin said Weymouth has not identified a current, severe PFAS problem in the town’s output but that neighboring communities have had to take mitigation measures.

Headin credited an earlier administration’s decision to invest in the Great Pond plant as foresight that now makes mitigation options possible. He said the town is weighing those technical and regulatory factors as part of broader reviews of water quality and of an application the town is preparing (discussed on the program as an MW application), and that monitoring and future testing will guide any additional work.

No formal action or vote was announced on the show. Headin said the issue is being monitored and framed it as an ongoing statewide challenge that will require technical solutions and further study.