PFAS Information

Introduction

The City of Savannah Water Resources Department developed this informational webpage to help educate our customers on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals”, and their presence in the City’s source water from the Savannah River and finished drinking water that is produced at the City of Savannah Industrial & Domestic (I&D) Water Treatment Plant.

PFAS detection in drinking water is a rapidly developing topic of discussion around the country. As data is collected and research continues, public water systems are learning more about PFAS, and many issues related to PFAS are still evolving at this time.  The following information is meant to be an introductory resource on the topic of PFAS and includes background information, current health-related data resources, regulatory information, and City of Savannah water quality PFAS data. The City will continue to share information and data with our water customers going forward.

What are PFAS?

You may have heard about PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals”, because they do not readily break down in the natural environment and can build-up over time. PFAS are a large group of chemicals used since the 1940s in common household and commercial products. Their manufacturing and use have introduced PFAS into the human environment in multiple ways. According to the Water Research Foundation and because they were (and still are) used in so many everyday products, most people in the United States and other industrialized countries have likely already been exposed to PFAS.

You can learn more about what PFAS are and the ways that you can be exposed to them from the following resources:

• Georgia Department of Public Health
• USEPA
• Water Research Foundation
• SCDHEC

Are PFAS harmful?

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA): “Current scientific research suggests that exposure to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health outcomes.  However, research is still ongoing to determine how different levels of exposure to different PFAS can lead to a variety of health effects.”  USEPA also states that: “There are thousands of PFAS chemicals, and they are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. This makes it challenging to study and assess the potential human health and environmental risks”. 

Below are links to health-related information on PFAS:

• Georgia Department of Public Health
• USEPA (General)
• USEPA (Technical)
• GAEPD

What are the Federal and State regulations for PFAS in drinking water?

For about 10 years, Federal and State regulators have been investigating PFAS chemicals by gathering data and compiling scientific studies on health impacts and treatment strategies. Starting in 2016, the USEPA started releasing non-enforceable lifetime health advisory (LHA) levels for certain PFAS chemicals and subsequently issued updates to those levels. In March 2023, the USEPA set a non-enforceable proposed maximum contaminant level (MCL) for some PFAS chemicals. In April 2024, the USEPA announced a final regulation setting an MCL for six PFAS chemicals to be monitored in beginning in 2027 and enforced beginning in 2029.  

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD) has followed the USEPA guidance as seen in the following websites:

• USEPA
• GAEPD

How does the City of Savannah’s Drinking Water compare to the Proposed Regulations?

Like many water utilities along the Savannah River and elsewhere around the country, the City of Savannah’s surface water is affected by PFAS. For Savannah, levels of PFOA and PFOS in the finished water withdrawn from the Savannah River are above the USEPA MCL of 4.0 parts per trillion (ppt) as shown in the table below:

Table: Savannah I&D Drinking Water PFAS Data

Note 1: US EPA guidance dated November 2016 established a non-enforceable LHA level of 70ppt for PFOS and PFOA combined.  Non-Detect (ND) indicates a level below the minimum detection limit of the laboratory test. 

Note 2: US EPA guidance dated April 2024 established a MCL of 4ppt each for PFOA and PFOA. In accordance with 40 CFR 141, PFAS results collected as a part of UCMR-5 starting in January 2023 are subject to specific reporting requirements. The GAEPD provided PFAS laboratory results for this sample on October 12, 2023.

Note 3: US EPA guidance dated April 2024 established a MCL of 4ppt each for PFOA and PFOA. In accordance with the USEPA regulation, monitoring will begin in 2027 and enforcement in 2029.

The City of Savannah currently operates a combination of groundwater and surface water systems. Our customers, including neighboring municipalities (i.e. Pooler, Port Wentworth, Garden City, Effingham County, Bloomingdale and Thunderbolt) have water service generally as follows: (1) entirely groundwater, (2) entirely surface water, or (3) combined surface and groundwater. In addition to what the City of Savannah supplies, neighboring municipalities may be contributing their own groundwater in some cases and some areas have private wells. PFAS testing on City of Savannah groundwater wells indicates that none of the City’s active groundwater wells had detectable levels of PFAS chemicals. The following map generally indicates the type of water supplied in different areas at this time:

What is the City of Savannah doing about PFAS in the water?

Sharing Information with our Customers – The City of Savannah will continue to post data to our website on PFAS chemicals in the Savannah River and in our drinking water as available. Recently, the USEPA selected both the City of Savannah and some of our municipal customers to participate in the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation 5 (UCMR-5) program which began in January 2023. In addition to data being posting on the USEPA website, the City of Savannah will continue to make this data publicly available on our water quality portal on our website.

• USEPA UCMR-5 program 

Coordinating with State and Federal Regulators – City of Savannah representatives are in regular contact with GAEPD and USEPA representatives as well as representatives from our municipal customers to share data and stay current on developments regarding PFAS data and the evolving regulatory environmental related to PFAS.

Future PFAS Treatment Planning – The City of Savannah has engaged an engineering and consulting team with extensive PFAS experience regarding upgrades to the 50 million gallon per day surface water treatment plant (i.e. Savannah I&D WTP) including management of PFAS. Various PFAS treatment strategies are under consideration which will likely result in significant cost increases to the drinking water production process, but the City of Savannah is committed to providing safe drinking water to our customers by maintaining compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.   The City of Savannah will be exploring available outside funding resources to minimize the cost impact of PFAS treatment on our customers. While we formulate our future technical and financial plans related to PFAS, the City will continue to disseminate information to our customers to assist them in understanding this evolving regulatory issue. To that end, the information below includes measures that customers can take to minimize exposure to PFAS both from drinking water sources and non-drinking sources other than drinking water.

How can I reduce the risk to my health?

PFAS chemicals have a widespread presence. Reducing your health risks from PFAS involves addressing multiple pathways of exposure. The links below can help you know how to reduce the risk of exposure from all these sources:

• Georgia Department of Public Health
• EPA (Overall Exposure)
• EPA (Home Water Treatment Technologies)

Questions?

Please direct any questions or requests for additional information regarding PFAS to Shawn Rosenquist, Ph.D., P.E., by email or call 912-525-3100 ext. 2511 (direct line) or 912-651-6573 (office line) .