Mayor Charles C. Kokoros is pleased to announce that the Town of Braintree has successfully removed all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the Town’s finished water supply. In January of 2020 the water was tested and the PFAS levels in the Town’s water supply were at 21 parts per trillion (ppt) and the State mandate for public drinking water is 20 ppt.
The Water and Sewer Department initially installed 1 filter as part of a PFAS removal pilot program to comply with the state’s mandate. The filter was online for 4 weeks and was actively collecting data that was then submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) for their review.
The filter proved successful in removing PFAS and the MassDEP granted permission to the Town to install an additional 4 filters. After all filters were installed the finished water supply was retested and as of March 16, 2021 the test results showed that the raw water PFAS level was 20 ppt and the filtered water PFAS level was 0 ppt.
“I made a commitment to meet or exceed the state guidelines and remove PFAS from our finished water supply,” said Mayor Kokoros. I am pleased that not only were we able to reduce PFAS to acceptable state levels but completely eliminate this harmful chemical from our drinking water. Water quality will always be a top priority for my administration.”
The Town will continue to test the individual filters and finished water monthly to ensure that the filters continue to function as they should.