Georgetown water treatment facility exceeds new 'forever chemical' standards

GEORGETOWN, Texas - The Environmental Protection Agency just set new standards on PFAS, also known as forever chemicals.

The City of Georgetown’s San Gabriel Water Treatment Facility joined about 50 other Texas water utility facilities that don't meet the new requirements.

"We live in an age of synthetic chemicals," said Dr. Romi Burks, a biology professor at Southwestern University. "They [PFAS] are meant to persist. They are chemicals that are coating surfaces, like your frying pans, and a lot of your jackets that are slick. Anything that has to do with a slick surface"

Over time, these forever chemicals make their way into streams and soil and end up in drinking water.

"They will travel into any water system, whether it be wastewater or through, you know, precipitation and over in flow," said Burks.

In a new federal standard, the EPA is targeting six of these forever chemicals after concerns about a link to cancer.

"It's something that, again, is definitely a health concern," said Burks. "We should do what we can to remediate the extent of these chemicals that are in the environment, but it’s also not going away anytime soon."

Cities, like Georgetown, which are exceeding the federal limit for PFAS, have five years to meet the new requirement.

Chelsea Solomon, Georgetown’s Water Utility Director, sent the following statement to FOX 7 Austin:

The City of Georgetown is following the guidelines provided by the EPA. We will continue to test and work with TCEQ and design consultants to make any adjustments to our water system that are needed as new technology becomes available for the removal of PFAS chemicals in drinking water.

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The City of Georgetown began participating in the EPA's fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) study in 2023 and began sampling for PFAS chemicals in June of that year.

All public water systems will have to complete an initial mentoring of PFAS by 2027 and then make that data available to the public.

Until then, Dr. Burks suggests staying informed.

"I think that education and political action are probably the best things that people can do," said Dr. Burks.