Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Krishna Kumar, Water Utility general manager, on Monday announced the completion of a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances treatment facility at Well 15 on Madison’s northeast side and are officially re-opening the well.
PFAS are a class of chemicals that do not break down naturally in the environment and are therefore termed “forever chemicals.”
The well has been shut down since 2019 due to PFAS contamination. With the PFAS filtration system up and running, all measurable PFAS are being removed from the water, and Well 15 can now safely be put back into the distribution system.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently finalized regulations for PFAS in drinking water, in which new enforcement standards, or maximum contaminant levels, were established for PFAS compounds. All Madison wells have been meeting those standards, with the exception of Well 15.
With the treatment system in place, the Madison Water Utility fully expects to meet those standards.
With a total project cost of $5.9 million, the project was funded through Wisconsin’s Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, which is made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
