Testing finds no detectable PFAS in Lake Monroe, Bloomington's water source

Almost all the water delivered to homes in Monroe County comes from one source: Lake Monroe. The City of Bloomington Utilities department's Monroe Treatment Plant processes lake water for residential, commercial, industrial and wholesale customers that is delivered to taps throughout the county.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are being found in drinking water around the country. These contaminants have been linked to cancers, liver function disruption, lower immune response to vaccines and pregnancy complications, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Justin Meschter, water quality coordinator for the City of Bloomington Utilities, said the department has participated in the EPA testing schedule for the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5), which tests drinking water for lithium and 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

"We have just completed our 4th round of testing for UCMR5 that spanned 2023 into 2024," Meschter said via email. The good news for residents of Monroe County who get their water from either a rural water district or municipality is PFAS haven't been found.

"We have not had any detectable results returned to us for our drinking water samples," Meschter said

Gosport wells have detectable levels of PFAS

The Owen County town of Gosport has been struggling with a failing water supply system for years. Both wells the town uses for water have substantial leaks.

And recent analysis of water from the wells and the town’s water treatment facility detected PFAS.

Untreated water samples tested in December 2023 showed the presence of perfluorobutane sulfonic acid, a PFAS chemical compound.

The levels were below the EPA’s current health advisory level for PFAS, which is 4 parts per trillion (ppt). The tests conducted in December showed a 3.4 ppt level in Gosport’s Well No. 1, 3.2 ppt at the town’s water treatment plant, and 3 ppt in Well No. 2.

A spokesman for the state’s Department of Environmental Management confirmed that Gosport’s drinking water contains PFAS, but said the amount is below the EPA’s health advisory levels and the agency’s “proposed maximum contaminant levels.”

The cost of constant repairs to the town’s aging water treatment plant and well pumps made it clear to town leaders something more permanent had to be done, and soon.

A new water treatment and supply system is in the works, with about half financed by $2.5 million in state and federal grants. The rest will be paid for by town residents over time, starting with a 75% water rate increase that went into effect late last year.

The project includes replacing four old water mains, installing new residential and business service lines, building a new treatment plant and digging a new well to replace one that’s 50 years old.

The investment is expected to improve water quality in the town of 800.

Wells in Monroe County included in PFAS study

Thirty-four private water wells in Monroe County were tested for PFAS as part of a water quality study conducted by RTI International and researchers who were working at Indiana University when the study began. The Monroe County wells were included to serve as a baseline for a rural area that has no known source for PFAS, according to Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, senior environmental health scientist at RTI.

Private water wells in Washington state, Minnesota and North Carolina were tested as part of the research that began in 2021. Each of those areas has known sources, from airports to manufacturing plants, Redmon said.

While analysis of the research is continuing, Redmon said most of the wells in Monroe County were below the detectable levels. However, tests did find a "handful of wells" with PFAS in them, although the concentration of the forever chemicals was lower than in the other three states with known sources.

A potential source of the PFAS in the Monroe County wells could be septic tanks, Redmon said. The hypothesis is that something containing PFAS is flushed into the septic tanks and then the chemicals, which do not break down, travel underground into the area that is pulling up water from the well. PFAS have been found in many common household products, especially ones that are stain- and water resistant.

The final results from the study are expected to be released this summer, with all participants receiving their results. The final results will also be published in a manuscript and shared online, Redmon said.

Boris Ladwig and Jill Bond contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Water in Monroe County appears free of PFAS