PFAS Compounds and Your Drinking Water

Columbia Water continues to proactively sample for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in its drinking water every six months. Sampling efforts utilizing the same parameters as DHEC sampling, which occurred back in June of 2020, allow for analysis of the same 29 compounds.

Our April 24, 2023 PFAS sample results for source and finished water at both plants show about the same compounds that we have seen previously, and the two different analytical methods used show comparable results.

Source and Finished Drinking Water Sample Results

In this latest sampling round, we detected eight compounds in the Canal Plant source water, and the same eight in the finished water. We detected seven compounds in the Lake Plant source water, and only six in the finished water. We detected the same compounds at each plant, except for PFBA and PFHxS, which we detected only at the Canal Plant and hexafluoropropylene oxide- dimer acid (HFPO-DA) – known as GenX, which we detected at the Lake Plant and not the Canal Plant. April samples showed results at the two water treatment plants with most levels going down compared to October 2022 results.

In order to monitor PFAS levels going forward, Columbia Water will continue to conduct its own source and finished water PFAS testing twice a year. Additionally, as part of the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule 5 (UCMR 5), we will begin sampling for 29 PFAS in December 2024.

For More Information: Please visit the EPA’s PFAS web page at www.ep.gov/pfas for tools, resources, and EPA actions to address PFAS. SCDHEC also has a resource page at www.scdhec.gov/BOW/perfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas, which includes results from all the drinking water systems they sampled. If you have additional questions, please contact our water treatment plant laboratory at (803) 733-8211.

Columbia PFAS Results for October 2022

Columbia Water continues to proactively sample for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in its drinking water every six months. Sampling efforts utilizing the same parameters as DHEC sampling, which occurred back in June of 2020, allow for analysis of the same 29 compounds.

Our October 24, 2022 PFAS sample results for source and finished water at both plants show about the same compounds that we have seen previously, and the two different analytical methods used show comparable results. We have still only ever detected 15 of the 29 compounds for which we have sampled.

Source and Finished Drinking Water Sample Results

In this latest sampling round, we detected seven compounds in the Canal Plant source water, and the same seven in the finished water. We detected eight compounds in the Lake Plant source water, and the same eight in the finished water. We detected the same compounds at each plant, except for hexafluoropropylene oxide- dimer acid (HFPO-DA), which we detected at the Lake Plant and not the Canal Plant. October samples showed results at the two water treatment plants with most levels going up compared to April.

In order to monitor PFAS levels going forward, Columbia Water will continue to conduct its own source and finished water PFAS testing twice a year.

For More Information: Please visit the EPA’s PFAS web page at www.epa.gov/pfas for tools, resources, and EPA actions to address PFAS. SCDHEC also has a resource page at www.scdhec.gov/BOW/perfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas, which includes results from all the drinking water systems they sampled. If you have additional questions, please contact our water treatment plant laboratory at (803) 733-8211.

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Columbia Water continues to proactively sample for perfluorinated compounds in its drinking water every six months. Samples were collected in the fall of 2021, but problems at the testing laboratory prevented the production of the test results from that sampling effort.

Our April 28, 2022 PFAS sample results for source and finished water at both plants show about the same compounds at about the same levels that we have seen previously, and the two different analytical methods used show comparable results. We have still only ever detected 15 of the 29 compounds for which we have sampled. In this latest sampling round, we detected eight compounds in the Canal Plant source water, and seven of those eight in the Canal Plant finished water. We also detected eight compounds in the Lake Plant source water, and seven of those eight in the Lake Plant finished water. We detected the same compounds at each plant, except for PFHxS, which we detected at the Canal Plant and not the Lake Plant, and HFPO-DA, which we detected at the Lake Plant and not the Canal Plant. 

Summary: The City of Columbia collected finished drinking water samples from each of its two water plants on April 28, 2022 utilizing the same parameters as DHEC sampling that occurred in June of 2020. The City also collected samples from each of its two source waters, the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray, and had those samples analyzed for the same 29 compounds.

Finished Drinking Water Sample Results: April, 2022 finished drinking water samples showed mixed results at the two water treatment plants with some levels going up, and others going down. Only nine of the 29 compounds tested for have been detected in the finished water from each plant.

Source Water Sample Results: 15 of the 29 PFAS compounds tested have been detected in one or both of the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray source water samples, all at low levels. Columbia Water is gathering source water samples to develop our body of knowledge on this subject.

For More Information: In order to continue to develop information about PFAS levels going forward, Columbia Water will conduct its own PFAS testing every six months.

Please visit the EPA’s PFAS web page at www.ep.gov/pfas for tools, resources, and EPA actions to address PFAS. SCDHEC also has a resource page at www.scdhec.gov/BOW/perfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas which includes results from all the drinking water systems they sampled.

Columbia Water continues to proactively sample for perfluorinated compounds in its drinking water every six months. April 2021, samples show PFAS levels varying slightly from earlier test results in both the Canal Water Treatment Plant and Lake Murray Water Treatment Plant raw and finished water, with levels continuing to be well below the EPA health advisory targets.

Summary: The City of Columbia collected finished drinking water samples from each of its two water plants on April 20, 2021 utilizing the same parameters as DHEC sampling that occurred in June of 2020. The City also collected samples from each of its two source waters, the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray, and had those samples analyzed for the same 29 compounds using a third testing method.

Finished Drinking Water Sample Results: April, 2021 finished drinking water samples showed mixed results at the two water treatment plants with some levels going up, and others going down. Combined levels of PFOA and PFOS were 14.54 and 15.3 parts per trillion (ppt) for the two testing methods in the Canal Plant samples, and 13.17 and 7.29 ppt for the two testing methods in the Lake Plant samples, all well below the 70 ppt health advisory level. Only nine of the 29 compounds tested for have been detected in the finished water from each plant.  There are no health advisories for any of the compounds detected other than PFOA and PFOS.

Source Water Sample Results: One new compound appeared at a very low level in the source water samples for the Canal Water Treatment Plant, which means 15 of the 29 PFAS compounds tested have been detected in one or both of the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray source water samples, all at low levels. There are no health advisories for source water samples, but Columbia Water is gathering source water samples to develop our body of knowledge on this subject.

For More Information: In order to continue to develop information about PFAS levels going forward, Columbia Water will conduct its own PFAS testing every six months.

Please visit the EPA’s PFAS web page at www.ep.gov/pfas for tools, resources, and EPA actions to address PFAS. SCDHEC also has a resource page at www.scdhec.gov/BOW/perfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas which includes results from all the drinking water systems they sampled.

Test results indicate that PFAS levels in Columbia’s drinking water are well below EPA’s health advisory levels.

Summary: The City of Columbia collected finished drinking water samples from each of its two water plants on October 28, 2020, just as DHEC did on June 8, 2020, and had those samples analyzed for the same 29 PFAS compounds using the same two testing methods. The City also collected samples from each of its two source waters, the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray, and had those samples analyzed for the same 29 compounds using a third testing method.

Finished Drinking Water Sample Results: The same eight PFAS compounds that were detected in DHEC’s June drinking water samples were also detected in the City’s October samples. Two additional compounds were also detected in the Canal Plant’s October samples, resulting in a total of ten PFAS compounds detected in the drinking water samples from one or both of the City’s water treatment plants. All compounds detected in the October samples were found at low levels similar to those found in the June samples. Combined levels of PFOA and PFOS were 12.58 and 12.70 parts per trillion (ppt) for the two testing methods in the Canal Plant samples, and 3.94 ppt for both methods in the Lake Plant samples, all well below the 70 ppt health advisory level. There are no health advisories for any of the ten detected compounds other than PFOA and PFOS.

Source Water Sample Results: Eleven of the 29 PFAS compounds tested for were detected in one or both of the Columbia Canal and Lake Murray source water samples, including seven of the ten compounds found in the drinking water samples plus four additional compounds, all at low levels. The highest level of any compound found in the source waters was 7.25 ppt, and five of the eleven compounds were found at levels less than one ppt. There are no health advisories for source water samples.