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- 2023 PFAS Test Results
Pueblo West Water and Waste Water PFAS Testing
Pueblo West water quality surpasses anticipated federal regulatory requirements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as the Pueblo West Metropolitan District Water and Wastewater Department, are committed to ensuring the health of our community's drinking water supply. As part of this partnership, Pueblo West, as well as water utilities across Colorado and the nation, are voluntarily testing their community's water supply for potentially harmful human-made chemicals.
In February 2023, Pueblo West Water tested our water and wastewater supply for these chemicals, known as PFAS, which stands for "per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances."
According to the test results, there is not a detectable amount of PFAS in our water supply.
Background
Earlier this year, the EPA proposed the National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, designed to limit the amount of PFAS found in water supplies throughout the nation. Sometimes referred to as "forever chemicals," PFAS are found in everyday products such as food packaging, cookware, clothing, and cosmetics and don't break down over time, eventually finding their way into the environment and in some cases, communities' water supplies.
Because they've been commonly used in products for nearly a century, most people have been exposed to them in their lifetimes.
The EPA considers the prevalence of these chemicals in the environment to be a public health risk. If, as anticipated, the regulations become enforceable by the end of 2023, water utilities across the nation must ensure that their community’s water supply contains less than 4 ppt (parts per trillion) of two PFAS compounds: perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). One part per trillion (ppt) denotes one part per 1,000,000,000,000 parts, and a value of 10−12. This is equivalent to about thirty seconds out of every million years.
Our commitment to our community
In finding nondetectable amounts of PFAS compounds, the Pueblo West Metropolitan District water supply falls far below anticipated regulatory limits.
The Pueblo West Metropolitan District Water and Wastewater Department works diligently to not only ensure that our community has an adequate water supply, but also that our drinking water is of the highest quality. To achieve this, we will continue to work to not only meet but surpass regulations designed to ensure the health of our water supply.