Updated, February 25, 2019 The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has released results of a 2018 state-wide sampling of public, school and tribal water supplies for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Of 1,114 public water systems, 119 have been found to contain some level of PFAS.
The study cost $1.7 million.
According to the DEQ press release, only the city of Parchment and Robinson Elementary School near Grand Haven returned levels "exceeding the […] 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) individually or combined in drinking water."
In August of 2018, the city of Parchment was connected to Kalamazoo’s municipal water system.
This map shows locations where PFAS has been detected in public water supplies.
Full testing data, including for schools, daycares and Head Start programs, can be found on the state’s PFAS response website.
Original post, Oct. 4, 2018: This spring, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality set out to test 1,300 public water systems for PFAS.
Only twice has it tested over the action level of 70 parts per trillion — once at astronomical levels in the City of Parchment, where a State of Emergency was declared before water quality could be restored — and once at 72 parts per trillion in *one* of the City of Kalamazoo’s pumping stations (this was deemed to not be cause for concern, and also, this was total PFAS, whereas the action level only applies to PFOA and PFOS).
The state is projected to finish this testing in November, and Michigan Radio will update the map as test results continue to be released.