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State health official: Pulaski’s treated water meets federal and state standards; PFAS tests so far nondetect
Summary
A Virginia Department of Health official told Pulaski council the town’s water system meets all sampling requirements, with no MCL exceedances reported in her six-year oversight and initial UCMR PFAS entry-point samples showing nondetects so far.
Lisa Crabtree, deputy field director for the Virginia Department of Health, told the Town of Pulaski council that the town’s treated water meets federal and state standards and that regulators have not observed any maximum contaminant level exceedances during her six years overseeing the system.
Crabtree said the water system, which serves roughly 9,500 people in the town and nearby subdivisions, is sampled for about 80 constituents. She described monthly bacteriological routines, daily and monthly chlorine residuals in the distribution system, quarterly disinfection-byproduct testing and the required radiological and nitrate samples. ‘‘In the six years that I have been regulating the town of Pulaski…there have been no MCL exceedances,’’ she said.
Addressing local concern about PFAS, Crabtree said the town completed Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule sampling for PFOS and that the entry-point results she had seen so far were nondetect. She cautioned that not all UCMR results were in but noted that regulatory limits for PFAS are scheduled to take effect in April 2027.
Council members and staff also highlighted recent operational improvements at the plant and said those changes helped earn the town optimization awards in recent years. Crabtree credited filter and process improvements and routine monitoring for the positive findings.
The presentation came amid circulating social-media posts raising water-quality alarms; Crabtree said that, based on the sampling she has reviewed, ‘‘the water quality has been…acceptable or nondetect’’ and that the reported problems appear to be driven by disagreement over local choices rather than measured contaminants.
The council did not take formal action on water-quality testing at the meeting. Officials said they will continue monitoring UCMR results as they arrive and will report back if any entry-point exceedances are confirmed.
