ANN ARBOR, MI – As total PFAS levels in Ann Arbor’s drinking water steadily climbed this year, many residents didn’t know.
That’s because the city chose not to tell the public about certain PFAS chemicals that were detected, instead sharing only information about two types — PFOS and PFOA — for which there is a 2016 health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion.
During a forum on PFAS in the Huron River Tuesday night, Dec. 18, Sarah Page, Ann Arbor’s water quality manager, explained the city’s decision to focus its public reporting on a fraction of the so-called “forever chemicals” found in the city’s drinking water.
The detected levels have been as high as 119.6 parts per trillion in Ann Arbor’s intake water from the Huron River this year and 88.1 ppt in the treated water delivered to roughly 125,000 customers.
Ann Arbor’s two most recent PFOS readings for its treated drinking water were 13 ppt and 22 ppt, with no PFOA detected, while total PFAS levels have ranged between 53.2 ppt and 88.1 ppt in the last few months, up from 12.6 ppt earlier this year.
Several local and state officials spoke about what they’re doing to monitor and address PFAS pollution in the Huron River watershed, including sampling various water sources and trying to cut off a major source of PFOS pollution that has been coming from a maker of chrome-plated auto parts in Wixom, Tribar Manufacturing.
It’s still unclear why PFOS levels in Ann Arbor’s water from the Huron River recently spiked as Wixom’s discharges dropped.
Michelle Hollander, who attended Tuesday’s forum as a concerned Ann Arbor resident, said she’s not satisfied with the response so far and doesn’t think the city has been proactive or transparent enough.
Ann Arbor first detected PFAS in the city’s drinking water in 2014 after the EPA required testing.
After seeing good results in experimental tests, she said, the city decided to put the new GAC into service at the plant.