Getting Pfas Out of Drinking Water

C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) by Britt E. Erickson

When scientists discovered three per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at worrisome levels in the drinking water provided to about 450 people in rural Maysville, North Carolina, town officials sprang into action. It was 2019, and at the time, there were no guidelines or federal limits for PFAS in drinking water. Still, town leaders immediately shut down the water plant and began purchasing water from a facility in neighboring Jones County.

Five years later, Maysville is now preparing to reopen its water plant thanks to about $1 million in federal grant money. The town used the funds to install a filtration system that can remove PFAS, including both long- and short-chain compounds.

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