How some South Florida cities are tackling forever chemicals in water

Nearly all people in the United States have forever chemicals in their blood.

These chemicals, also known as PFAS, can be found in many consumer products. When they seep into the water and air, they can end up in your food and drinking water.

“PFAS has been introduced a long time ago, more than 60 years ago, but there's still not enough regulations related to those chemicals,” said Florida International University Professor Natalia Soares Quinete, PhD.

The first ever national drinking water standards for PFAS went into place this year. The new regulations require local water systems to test for the amount of PFAS in their drinking water and add treatment solutions to address these chemicals.

The traditional water treatment process found at many facilities in South Florida doesn’t address PFAS contamination, but we found some cities with technology already in place to tackle these emerging chemicals.

“This type of filtration or process for water treatment is the best available technology currently to remove PFAS from finished water,” said the utilities director of the city of Plantation, Daniel Pollio.

PFAS testing in the city shows levels so low they are under the minimum reporting requirements set by the EPA.

“In essence, when your water comes through the membrane, everything's been removed from it,” Pollio said.

They use a water treatment process called nanofiltration. It’s a technology put in place more than 30 years ago.

It works by pumping water through a cartridge filter first and then sending the water through a series of tubes, which have a membrane center. The center uses pressure to help separate out impurities in the water, including PFAS.

“This type of technology takes that out, even below the levels that the EPA is setting for them. So, a technology that had come to light 30 years ago, removal of the PFAS components is a benefit that wasn't anticipated when it was first designed,” Pollio said.

This is similar to another filtration used by a handful of South Florida facilities, reverse osmosis filtration.

In North Miami Beach, they use a mixture of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. This makes the filtration process more energy efficient while still tackling the issue of contamination.

“We have membrane that can purify the water,” said North Miami Beach Water Plant Manager, Caros Carrazana.

This process helps to take out the contamination before making it to your drinking water.

Not all facilities have technology to address PFAS contamination, but the EPA’s new standards will require water districts to implement technology to reduce the amount of PFAS in their water within the next five years.

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