FAYETTEVILLE — Carbon filters appear to be effective at screening GenX from drinking water in private wells and municipal water systems near a Chemours plant in West Virginia, federal regulators say.
Nine of the 14 wells were found to contain the chemical, but none had detectable levels after the water passed through granual activated carbon filters.
News broke in June that high levels of GenX had been found in Wilmington’s drinking water, which comes from the Cape Fear River.
Since then, researchers have discovered 190 private wells surrounding the Fayetteville Works plant that contain GenX at levels exceeding what the state considers safe for drinking water.
The 14 wells and municipal water systems have used granular activated carbon filtration systems for years, after DuPont was ordered to install them because of earlier high levels of C8 contamination.
The EPA found that the filters appear to be working.
“At this time, no GenX was found in treated drinking water that came from contaminated wells,” the EPA said in a statement released this week.
The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which provides drinking water to the Wilmington area, is conducting similar tests to see if granular activated carbon filters or ion exchange filters can eliminate GenX and other contaminants that remain in its treated water.
Meanwhile, the state requested that Chemours conduct a pilot study to determine whether granular activated carbon filtration systems can effectively screen GenX and a host of other perfluorinated compounds from private wells.
“This pilot study is to determine if granulated activated carbon filtration systems are an alternative to bottled water; however, they are not a final solution,” Leonard said.