Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of several thousand manmade chemicals that have been used widely in consumer products and industry since the 1940s.  Due to their unique chemical structure, PFAS are extremely stable and repel oil, grease, water, and heat.  Because of their long history of use, scientific studies have shown PFAS are ubiquitous and can have serious adverse impacts on human health and the environment, even at very low levels.

The same properties that make PFAS stable also make them extremely resistant to breaking down in the environment (persistent), giving them the nickname “Forever Chemicals.” PFAS also migrate easily in water and air, and because of their persistence, can travel far from where they were used or released to the environment.

WPCF PFAS Report

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) contracted with Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc. to perform a study assessing the potential presence of PFAS in various environmental media at select water pollution control facilities (WPCFs) within Connecticut, as well as in their receiving waters and in downstream aquatic species in such waters.  Thirty-five (35) WPCFs were selected for participation by DEEP to provide geographic coverage of the State and cover a range of differing community sizes, inputs, and treatment processes.

Environmental media tested for PFAS included:

  • Influent, effluent, and sewage sludge from 35 WPCFs, sampled in summer 2021 and winter 2022
  • Composite sewage sludge and incinerator scrubber water from 4 WPCFs that incinerate sewage sludge, sampled in summer 2021 and winter 2022
  • Fish tissue and surface water (upstream and downstream) near 10 WPCF outfalls, sampled in Fall 2021 only.

 The Report

Any questions regarding this report should be directed to Christopher Falk and Jueda Shytko  Any general questions regarding PFAS can be directed to DEEP.PFAS@ct.gov.

EPA Monitoring Guidance & Development of Analytical Methods for PFAS

 

On December 5, 2022, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a memo titled Addressing PFAS Discharges in NPDES Permits and Through the Pretreatment Program and Monitoring Programs, which identified its efforts to develop and plans to approve PFAS sampling methods for various environmental media and recommended the implementation of PFAS monitoring at all publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) nationwide in order to assess the presence and concentration of PFAS in the discharges.

 

In December 2024, the EPA’s Office of Water, in partnership with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, published Method 1633A, “Analysis of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Aqueous, Solid, Biosolids, and Tissue Samples by LC-MS/MS,” a method to test for 40 PFAS compounds in wastewater, surface water, groundwater, soil, biosolids, sediment, landfill leachate, and fish tissue.  This method can be used in various applications, including NPDES permits.  The method will support NPDES implementation by providing a consistent PFAS method that has been tested in a wide variety of wastewaters and contains all the required quality control procedures for the Clean Water Act.  The DoD led the multi-laboratory validation study of the procedure throughout 2023 in collaboration with the EPA Office of Water, the Office of Land and Emergency Management, and the Office of Research and Development. The Office of Water used the results of the multi-laboratory validation study to finalize the method and add formal performance criteria.

 

Also in December 2024, the EPA’s Office of Water published Method 1621, “Determination of Adsorbable Organic Fluorine (AOF) in Aqueous Matrices by Combustion Ion Chromatography (CIC),” a method to measure the aggregate concentration of organofluorines (molecules with a carbon-fluorine bond) in wastewater. The most common sources of organofluorines are PFAS and non-PFAS fluorinated compounds such as certain pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

 

The method tells the user that organofluorines are present but cannot identify which specific organofluorines are present. The strength of the method is that it can broadly screen for thousands of known PFAS compounds at the part-per-billion level in aqueous (water) samples.

 

Methods 1633A and 1621 were both proposed for approval under 40 CFR Part 136.3 in December 2024 (docket number EPA-HQ-OW-2024-0328). While the methods are not nationally required for CWA compliance monitoring until the EPA has promulgated them through rulemaking, the EPA recommends them now for use in individual permits.

 

More information on Methods 1633A and 1621 can be found on the EPA webpage for CWA Analytical Methods for PFAS.

 

 

DEEP's Next Steps

 

The DEEP is planning to implement PFAS monitoring requirements at all POTWs through a general permit process.  DEEP is targeting mid-2025 for the issuance of this general permit and plans to require monitoring of plant influent, effluent, and sewage sludge.  More information will be provided by DEEP in the coming months.

Further Information

  1. CT DEEP Resources
  2. EPA Resources
  3. PFAS Communications Resources for Municipalities
    • The Water Research Foundation (WRF), in partnership with American Water Works Association, has developed communications materials that utilities and municipalities can use as they interact with customers, regulators, and other stakeholders to communicate clearly about all aspects of PFAS.The materials can be downloaded on WRF’s website for free after making an account. The research paper, can be viewed in the July-September 2022 edition of WRF’s publication Advances in Water Research

 

For other information, please contact the Municipal Facilities section by e-mail.

Content last updated February 11, 2025