In 2024 the Environmental Protection Agency finalized regulatory standards for a group of chemicals called PFAS, commonly known as “forever chemicals.”
PFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of consumer products and industrial processes since the mid-20th century.
The EPA has found that PFAS in drinking water and other sources can cause serious health problems if people are exposed over a long period of time.
Park City Water Quality and Treatment Manager Michelle De Haan said the EPA set a deadline of 2031 to achieve compliance.
“We have been working with the Utah Division of Drinking Water on this since before the rule was finalized in 2024, and we are the first community to gain approval of our PFAS compliance plan,” De Haan said. “That plan is essentially a no-cost solution to the community, because we’re able to blend the well water from the Creekside water treatment plant with water from the 3Kings plant that doesn’t have any PFAS in it. And we’re actively doing this today.”
De Haan said Park City began monitoring for PFAS in 2019 and later identified a culprit: fluorocarbon ski wax.
“It’s very easy to see that in our local hydrology, that the fluoro ski wax penetrates into the soils very quickly and into our local aquifers,” she said.
In response, the city launched a public education campaign to encourage skiers and shops to quit using fluorocarbon wax, which was banned by the International Ski Federation in 2021.
De Haan said they continue to identify PFAS compounds in snow samples where skiing is popular, such as Round Valley and the lift line at Deer Valley Resort.
Public confidence in Park City’s drinking water has dramatically increased in the past decade. In 2022, 75% of residents surveyed ranked the city’s water as “excellent or good,” compared to 43% in 2011.
De Haan was hired by the city in 2011 after brown drinking water was found to be coming out of taps in the Thaynes neighborhood.
“This community should be proud of the work that our department has done to change the rating of how the community feels about water quality,” she said.
To maintain water quality at second homes, which are abundant in Park City, De Haan recommends flushing the pipes. If homes are left vacant for a month or more, water quality can decline and it’s important to bring in a fresh supply.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
