Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—also called “PFAS”—are chemicals used to resist heat, oil, stains, grease and water. They make pans non-stick and ski wax slick.
Unfortunately, scientists are realizing they’re toxic, they’re everywhere and they’re hard to get rid of. The Centers for Disease Control link PFAS to developmental, liver and immune system issues in animals.
A key concern in Utah is PFAS in the watershed. Recycle Utah launched a ski wax drop-off program last year, but plenty of PFAS has made it into Park City’s water in the decades prior.
“We anticipate being required to remove pretty much all these items sometime in the future,” Snyderville Water Reclamation District Director Mike Luers said. “The [Environmental Protection Agency] is deciding just, ‘What level do we need to treat to?’”
He said if the district removes all pharmaceutical chemicals and PFAS from its water, it will add $10 to customers’ monthly bills.
“We do, in fact, know how to remove all these compounds,” he said. “Is it cheap? No, but we can remove them.”
Because the district already has an advanced wastewater facility, it removes 90% of microplastics, another invisible and troublesome pollutant, according to Luers
“To remove the pharmaceuticals and PFAS compounds, that would take additional treatment technology added on to what we already have,” Luers said.
Besides purifying the Basin’s own water supply, he said, it’s important because there are other humans and animals downstream.
Before the EPA requires their removal, though, it will need to better understand how much PFAS and which kinds are truly harmful.
