Portsmouth Water System PFAS Updates

Go to a 10-Year History Timeline on Portsmouth's PFAS Treatment Efforts, 2014-2024

On April 10, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the final National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) establishing legally enforceable levels, called Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs), for six PFAS in drinking water. Those compounds include: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA as contaminants with individual MCLs, and PFAS mixtures containing at least two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS. The new regulation uses a Hazard Index MCL to account for the combined and co-occurring levels of these PFAS in drinking water. EPA also finalized health-based, non-enforceable Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLGs) for these PFAS.

The City of Portsmouth continues to comply with all standards regulating levels of PFAS in both the Portsmouth Regional and Pease International Tradeport Drinking Water Systems. Until the EPA rule is finalized, and its requirements go into effect, Portsmouth, along with all community water suppliers in New Hampshire, must continue to comply with the PFAS maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) established by the DES in 2019 for four PFAS compounds. 

The City has tracked, sampled and responded to PFAS regulation since these compounds were first discovered in the Pease drinking water sources in May 2014. The City of Portsmouth maintains a multi-prong approach. Actions include:

  • Sampling all Portsmouth drinking water sources quarterly for PFAS compounds to assess the 12-month rolling averages for the four New Hampshire regulated compounds. Working with regulators and other waterworks professionals to track and respond to the evolving water quality information, regulations and treatment technologies related to PFAS compounds. 
  • Evaluating the need for and piloting effective treatments that may be necessary at any other drinking water sources of supply serving the City’s drinking water system.
  • Designing and constructing a dual resin and granular activated carbon treatment system for the Pease water system wells that removes the PFAS compounds. We have also been working with the Air Force monitoring and responding to PFAS compounds in the water sources in the Pease southern wellfield aquifer. 
  • Recommending and getting approval from our City Council to budget $2.5 million to design and install treatment on the Greenland Well, which is currently just over the 4 parts per trillion level of PFOA. An engineer is currently engaged in this design work, with bidding and construction anticipated later this year.
  • Undertaking preliminary design of treatment for the Portsmouth and Collins wells.

“The new rule expands the US EPA’s recommended levels for four PFAS compounds,” said DPW Director of Water Resources Brian Goetz.  “The City of Portsmouth’s water operations staff will continue to monitor and address this evolving issue through our ongoing efforts, research, monitoring and system upgrades as necessary. For now, we will continue to comply with the PFAS maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) established by the NH Department of Environmental Services (DES) in 2019 for four PFAS compounds until they are either changed by the NHDES or the EPA rule goes into effect.” said Goetz. “Because we were one of the first to address this issue nearly ten years ago, we have had the opportunity to explore, pilot and implement treatment technologies to continually allow drinking water to be delivered to our customers. We are also fortunate that we have great support from our local and congressional delegations and that the Air Force has been a willing partner in responding to the contamination. Technologies and regulatory requirements are likely to continue to evolve. We will continue to do our best to implement necessary and feasible actions to respond and comply with regulatory standards. We will also continue to update the City Council and public through our water system’s website updates and other information presented during the quarterly Safe Water Advisory Group and Pease Restoration Advisory Board meetings and at various water conferences.”

EPA estimates that between about 6% and 10% of the 66,000 public drinking water systems subject to this rule may have to take action to reduce PFAS to meet these new standards. All public water systems have three years to complete their initial monitoring for these chemicals. They must inform the public of the level of PFAS measured in their drinking water. Where PFAS is found at levels that exceed these standards, systems must implement solutions to reduce PFAS in their drinking water within five years. 

As a member of the American Waterworks Association (AWWA), the City of Portsmouth Water Division will continue to follow the comments from member utilities that will likely be filed with the EPA. AWWA reiterated its commitment to ensuring safe drinking water supplies, including the statement made when EPA issued its preliminary rule in March 2023, “AWWA is committed to both the protection of public health and decision-making based on the best available science. As a community of water professionals, we share EPA’s desire to keep harmful levels of PFAS out of the nation’s drinking water. We support setting national drinking water standards for PFAS that protect all consumers, including the most sensitive populations. We also stand for strong source water protection to prevent PFAS contamination and increased investment in PFAS research. We stand for transparency, and support requirements for utilities to actively share PFAS monitoring results and other water quality information with consumers. We support sound scientific process to create regulations in which the public health benefits outweigh the costs.”

 

For additional information from the EPA, including the April 10, 2024 press release, visit their website. 

The EPA has also summarized the new rule in this fact sheet. 

The following table provides a summary of the four-quarter rolling average results for Portsmouth Water System testing results through March 2024. Additional results are included in the Water Quality reports found on this City website Water page.

Rolling Average table

According to this monitoring, the following water sources have detection averages above the EPA’s proposed MCLs:

  • Portsmouth well: 5.0 ppt of PFOS, 6.5 ppt of PFOA

  • Collins well: 4.1 ppt of PFOA

  • Greenland well: 4.2 ppt of PFOA

The State of New Hampshire has adopted enforceable drinking water Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) standards for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); Perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). 

The New Hampshire standards set a drinking water maximum contaminant level (MCL) for each contaminant as follows:

PFAS ContaminantMCL parts per trillion (ppt)
PFHxS18
PFNA11
PFOS15
PFOA12

The regulatory requirements and health advisories for PFAS compounds have evolved considerably since May 2014. The following table summarizes the EPA advisories and timeline of MCLs for the four New Hampshire regulated compounds, together with PFBS:

Regulation/AdvisoryDatePFHxSPFNAPFOAPFOSPFBS

EPA Preliminary

Health Advisory

2009  400200 
EPA Lifetime Health Advisory2016  70*70* 
NH Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs)201918111215 
EPA Lifetime Health Advisory2022  0.0040.022.000
EPA Final Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs)2024101044 
  

Notes:

  • All levels are in Parts-per-Trillion (ppt)
  • * EPA’s 2016 Advisory was for 70 ppt combined for PFOA and PFOS. 
  • No advisories or MCLs were previously set for PFHxS, PFNA or PFBS

In summary:

The City of Portsmouth has proactively sampled for PFAS compounds ever since the discovery of PFOS above the EPA’s provisional health advisory in the Pease Tradeport Water System’s Haven Well in May 2014. The well was contaminated by the use of fire-fighting foam at the former Pease Air Force Base. That well was shut down and a comprehensive investigation into the source and extent of the contamination was undertaken. A monthly monitoring program of the Pease supply wells was also implemented. This program included monitoring of the City of Portsmouth’s Collins and Portsmouth wells. Sampling at that time included not only the six compounds that the EPA was soon to require large systems to sample, but a total of 23 compounds to provide a better understanding of the extent of the contamination.  The City completed construction of the new Pease Drinking Water Treatment Facility in April 2021. This facility's treatment process includes ion-exchange resin and activated carbon filtration systems for the removal of PFAS. Water from the Harrison and Smith wells have been continuously treated through granular activated carbon (GAC) since 2016. The ion-exchange resin filters were added to the treatment system on April 20, 2021, and have since been removing PFAS from the Harrison and Smith well water. The Haven Well was reactivated and approved as a source of water for the Pease Water Treatment Facility in July 2021. Samples are collected monthly throughout the treatment process and analyzed for PFAS. There have been no detections of the regulated compounds in the water entering the distribution system from the treatment plant since it has been in operation. 

In anticipation of the new EPA rule that might require treatment for the levels of PFAS in the Portsmouth, Collins and Greenland Wells, the City has engaged the services of consulting engineers to design treatment systems for those sources of supply. The City’s current budget includes $2.5 million for design and construction of treatment for the Greenland Well. It is most likely that granular activated carbon will be the most viable option for these sources since it has proven to be most effective for water with low levels of PFAS. We will continue to seek funding from the Air Force for the cost of treatment for the Portsmouth and Collins Wells, as they are located in the Pease Southern Wellfield Aquifer.

Customers can contact the Water Division for more information and refer to this webpage for detailed water quality information.

SAFE WATER ADVISORY GROUP

The Safe Water Advisory Group (SWAG) was founded by Council action on October 5, 2020, the group's stated mission is to:

  • To review and communicate the latest science on the health and environmental effects of PFAS, to monitor federal and state level legislative changes, and to anticipate policy changes that could impact the city of Portsmouth.  

For the latest information on SWAG please click here.

PFAS IN DAILY LIFE

The attention to PFAS in drinking water, and other products, has grown considerably since it was first discovered at the Haven Well in May 2014. Pease was one of the first sites in the nation to have to respond to PFAS contamination caused by fire-fighting foam. Since then, many other prominent sites in New Hampshire and across the nation have discovered the presence of these compounds in their groundwater and drinking water. However, other research has revealed PFAS to be present in:

  • Certain products utilizing PFAS produced by 3M, Chemours, Dupont, Tyco and others.
  • Products from foreign manufacturers that do not have PFAS regulations.
  • Food, including milk, meat and fish;
  • Products, including non-stick cookware, pans and utensils, dental floss, floor and car polishes/waxes, cleaning, rinse and waterproofing agents:
  • Stain resistant coatings used on carpets, upholstery, and other fabrics.
  • Water resistant clothing, sporting goods and camping gear.
  • Certain cosmetics, such as lotions, cleansers, nail polish, shaving cream, and some types of makeup, such as lipstick, eyeliner, eyeshadow, and mascara. According to greenmatters.com “a study found PFAS in more than half of cosmetics tested.” 
  • Children’s car seats
  • Certain ski waxes
  • Byproducts such as air dust and biosolids;
  • Forested areas of Vermont where 68 soil samples, collected from 66 locations, revealed PFOS in all soil samples, some with high frequency;
  • Some bottled water, NHDES sampling has found detectable levels in three brands, one which exceeded the EPA’s current health advisory limits. A study published in the journal Water Research by Johns Hopkins University researchers detected PFAS in 39 out of more than 100 bottled waters tested.
  • Private wells on Cape Cod with no known sources of contamination other than septic systems according to a study by the Silent Spring Institute; and
  • Other New Hampshire municipal landfills, fire training centers and fire department facilities.
  • Rainwater
  • Mount Everest snow and meltwater: The journal Science of The Total Environment published a study that found perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) in Mt. Everest snow and meltwater. The highest concentrations found were 26.14 and 10.34 ppt of PFOS at Base Camp and Camp 2, respectively

With regard to drinking water in particular:

  • An analysis of one-third of the nationwide water systems found that 28 percent of them contained PFAS chemicals at concentrations at or above 5 ppt (Environmental Working Group Article, May 2018, reporting on work of Eurofins Eaton Analytical); and
  • Many water systems that originally had samples with “non detections” are now detecting low levels of these compounds with improved/lowered laboratory detection capabilities. Seacoast communities with detections include Hampton and North Hampton (served by Aquarion), Dover, Rochester, Rye, Seabrook and Stratham.

RESOURCES:

ADDITIONAL PFAS INFORMATION AND RESOURCES