By TAPinto West Essex StaffPublished September 11, 2024 at 10:37 AMLast updated September 11, 2024 at 10:37 AMESSEX FELLS, NJ – Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is no longer detectable in the water that the Essex Fells Water System is supplying to customers in Essex Fells, Caldwell, North Caldwell and Roseland.Mayor Edward Davis of Essex Fells made that announcement in a recent public letter.“As you know from prior updates, in the last several years we have kept PFOA levels low, a...
By TAPinto West Essex Staff
Published September 11, 2024 at 10:37 AM
Last updated September 11, 2024 at 10:37 AM
ESSEX FELLS, NJ – Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is no longer detectable in the water that the Essex Fells Water System is supplying to customers in Essex Fells, Caldwell, North Caldwell and Roseland.
Mayor Edward Davis of Essex Fells made that announcement in a recent public letter.
“As you know from prior updates, in the last several years we have kept PFOA levels low, and within the NJ standard of 14 parts per trillion, by taking various temporary measures. At the same time, we have been actively pursuing our long-term goal of reducing levels of PFOA and other types of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to zero or as close to zero as current technology allows,” Mayor Davis said in the letter. “We have now achieved that goal in our active water supply, covering all 13 of the groundwater wells that we are currently using. To our knowledge, we are the first community water system in New Jersey to complete improvements on this scale to comprehensively remove PFOA contaminants to non-detectable levels.”
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Two months ago, the Essex Fells Water System began operations at a new $8.5 million PFOA treatment facility that was constructed at its main water treatment plant, which treats 13 of the water system’s 16 groundwater wells.
Test results confirm that PFOA and other types of PFAS are not detectable in the water leaving the plant. Earlier this summer, a contract was awarded for the construction of the system's second permanent PFOA treatment system, which will be installed at a water treatment plant that treats water from two wells.
These wells are currently offline, not delivering water to the public. They have no current impact on water quality. Installing permanent PFOA treatment will allow the Essex Fells Water System to bring these two wells back online, “which will increase our system’s capacity while maintaining the water quality,” Davis said.
The mayor said that project is expected to be done by the middle of next year.
“Our third and final permanent PFOA facility will be constructed at a water treatment plant that treats one groundwater well. This well is currently offline,” Davis said. “Design plans were filed with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection in June 2023. We hope to receive final approvals from the NJJDEP and the NJ Water Bank in the next month or two, at which point we will advertise the project for bids. We expect to complete construction and return the well to service by the end of 2025. At that point, our water system will be back at full capacity, delivering water from 16 groundwater wells, with no detectable levels of PFOA.”