'Forever' Chemicals Found In Ridgewood Drinking Water System: Report

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — More than a year after incurring an initial violation, Ridgewood Water is still out of compliance with New Jersey standards on maximum contaminant levels for per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS), a quarterly report from the village water system said.

Ridgewood Water contains levels of PFAS, manmade "forever" chemicals that are higher than the statewide health standards, and did not remediate violations at nine points of entry by the one-year deadline of July 23.

From July 2021 to June 2022, Ridgewood Water also exceeded the MCL for PFOA at 19 of its drinking water treatment plants, and from October 2021 to June 2022, the system exceeded MCL for PFOS at one of its drinking water plants, according to the system's annual report.

PFAS is a group of chemicals that includes perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), the two most prominent compounds found in Ridgewood Water's groundwater sources, the third-quarter report released on Oct. 15 said.

People who drink water containing PFOA in excess of maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) over time could experience problems with their blood serum cholesterol levels, liver, kidney, immune system, or, in males, the reproductive system, the quarterly report said.

For PFOS, people could experience problems with their liver, kidney, or immune or endocrine systems.

Ridgewood Water is implementing "system-wide treatment," the quarterly report said, and is providing an update every three months until the MCL violations are returned to compliance. Installation of PFAS treatment at the water system's points of entry is expected to complete in 2026, the annual report said.

Based on samples collected at exceeding treatment plants, PFOA was found to be between 17.6 and 30.6 parts per trillion, while the MCL for PFOA is 14 ppt. PFOS was found to between 16.2 and 16.6 ppt, while the MCL for PFOS is 13 ppt, Ridgewood Water said.

MCL standards for the chemicals were adopted by the state in 2020, and monitoring began in 2021.

Ridgewood Water has worked closely with New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection on this issue since 2020, and completed a master plan for designing, purchasing, integrating and testing a permanent PFAS treatment system that same year.

As part of the plan, Ridgewood Water is aiming to provide more efficient PFAS treatment by consolidating 31 treatment plants to 12 treatment plants. Implementation of this plan is "well underway," the quarterly report said.

"Integrating PFAS treatment systems into our existing treatment plants to address the contamination is complex, time-consuming, expensive – and necessary," Ridgewood Water said. "We are dedicated to clean up the contamination, which was caused by others."

For specific health information see https://www.nj.gov/health/ceoh... and https://www.nj.gov/dep/pfas/in...