Rising Concerns as PFAS Contamination Spreads Through U.S. Water Systems
So, let me walk you through what’s been happening lately with PFAS chemicals in drinking water, because the story has been unfolding in several cities, and Louisville, Kentucky, has become a key example of why this issue matters.
Recently, the Louisville Water Company detected an unexpected spike in one particular PFAS chemical known as GenX. Now, PFAS — often called “forever chemicals” — have been used for decades in everyday products like nonstick cookware, rain jackets, cosmetics, food wrappers, and even firefighting foam. They’re called “forever chemicals” because they hardly break down in the environment, and unfortunately, they’ve made their way into soil, waterways, and even human bloodstreams.
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In Louisville, water quality scientists monitor the Ohio River constantly, not just for common things like pH, odors, or microbes, but also for PFAS. About a year ago, they noticed that GenX suddenly spiked from around 3 parts per trillion to 52 parts per trillion in their raw water. That may still sound tiny — and it is — but when something jumps fifteen-fold in a single month, it raises questions.
The team traced the contamination upriver, eventually linking the spike to a Chemours manufacturing plant in West Virginia. This facility, formerly part of DuPont, has a long history of PFAS-related pollution, and it currently uses GenX to make specialized plastics used in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing. Chemours has been the subject of lawsuits and EPA enforcement actions over repeated permit violations involving PFAS discharges, and although the company denied that its releases caused Louisville’s spike, the timing matched public discharge records.
Even so, Louisville officials emphasized that customers weren’t in danger. The treatment process brought GenX levels back down below federal limits, and PFAS exposure is evaluated over a lifetime, not from short-term fluctuations. Still, the discovery added pressure on regulators and utilities, especially because new federal PFAS limits were introduced in 2024. Those rules originally targeted six PFAS chemicals, but after political changes in Washington, only two will remain regulated for now, and utilities have been given extra years to comply.
Meanwhile, smaller communities like Shadyside, Ohio, are facing their own PFAS concerns. Their recent tests showed fluctuating levels just below contamination thresholds. Local engineers and village leaders are now weighing solutions — from connecting to neighboring water systems to building new treatment methods such as activated carbon filtering. Funding is available, but decisions about long-term water independence, infrastructure costs, and regional partnerships are now front and center.
Across the country, utilities big and small are confronting the same challenge: it’s possible to remove PFAS, but it’s expensive. And preventing them from entering waterways in the first place is far easier than cleaning them out afterward. Louisville’s experience — and Shadyside’s — is a reminder that protecting the source water matters just as much as treating what flows from the tap.
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