Frisco warns residents of PFAS levels far above new health advisory
Frisco's water levels have been on Colorado's radar as an issue for years but the latest adjustment on the levels the EPA finds ok for "forever chemicals" in water has shifted the goal posts for a team already working to fix the problem.
This June, the EPA changed the acceptable levels for combined levels of PFAS from 70 parts per trillion to much, much lower for specific PFAS. PFOA and PFOS are now suggested to be around 0.004 and 0.02 respectively. Frisco's latest test in August of 2021 showed levels of 4.5 parts per trillion and 11.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS.
Ryan Thompson, Water operations supervisor for Frisco said while they will strive to hit these new levels, and the EPA is operating on a better understanding of the dangers of these chemicals, it's going to be incredibly difficult to even measure if they have low enough levels, let along get to the requested levels.
"Some of the new values that the new health advisory limits...to achieve that level of testing at the point .02 parts per trillion...most laboratories are not capable of testing down that level," Thompson said."So we strive for below testable limits."
"Below testable limits" is less than 2 parts per trillion, at least for the laboratory that Frisco is using right now. Frisco is already working with a team of engineers to install filtration systems, including ionic exchange as well as granular activated carbon, and deciding which system will be best to remove what the city called a "plume" of PFAS. That project is expected to lower the levels of PFAS, even though in time, the level recedes on its own.
Thompson said the city has taken three tests over the last two years. The first was April 2020, which came back with 17.2 combined PFAS parts per trillion. In May of 2021, it was 16 PFAS parts per trillion. The latest test was August 2021: 15.5 Parts per trillion.
Thompson said since the water system for Frisco is not a closed-loop, the longer the water runs through the area with the contamination, the less contaminated the area will become. "You are not only diluting it, you are washing it out of the ground source," Thompson explained.
As to how the PFAS got there in the first place, Frisco has not officially pointed the finger anywhere. Several other PFAS contamination issues have come from firefighting foam.
"No one has taken responsibility for the entrance of PFAS into our drinking water and time will sort of tell on that," Thompson said.
Thompson stopped short of offering health advice to families in town but said he is still confident in the safety of the water in Frisco and will continue to drink it while the town works to bring the level of PFAS down.
"We take our water drinking standards very seriously and we will invest whatever we need to achieve the health advisory limits the public health and the trust of our community," Thompson said.
Below we have some resources for families concerned with the findings from the latest Frisco PFAS testing:
How to test and how to filter: https://pfas-exchange.org/pfas-and-drinking-water-what-you-should-know/
Colorado certified PFAS testing labs: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/dwlabs
State programs addressing PFAS: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/pfas-projects
How to look up the results of PFAS in your public water system from the 2020 PFAS testing: https://cohealthviz.dphe.state.co.us/t/EnvironmentalEpidemiologyPublic/views/PFAS_results_DRAFT/PWS?%3Adisplay_count=n&%3Aembed=y&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3AshowVizHome=n
