FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) -- Independent, consumer-level tests performed by WANE 15 appeared to confirm what officials with Fort Wayne City Utilities have said: few, if any "forever chemicals" are in area water, especially in the drinking water and its source. Quite remarkable, given the prevalence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says are a group of manufactured chemicals that break down very slowly and can build up in people, animals, and the environment over time. Graphic from the City of Fort Wayne "We do not have a Dupont or a Bayer or any of those chemical companies in our watershed," explained river advocate Dan Wire. "The numbers look reassuring." Nearly 100 years ago, the city made the decision to forgo a system of wells and instead get its drinking water from the 694,000 acres of the watershed that supplies the St. Joseph River, a move Wire said was done by almost every large community. At the time, most of the businesses and industries were downtown, which meant wastewater and runoff went into the St. Marys and then into the Maumee, flowing away from the city. The testing was done with Cyclopure test kits on August 30, 2024, with city tap water at WANE 15 and unfiltered water from the St. Joe and Maumee Rivers. A fourth test on September 11 examined tap water at the water treatment plant in Defiance, Ohio, the only municipality which obtains its drinking water from the Maumee. The numbers (full results at the bottom of this page) seem to validate Fort Wayne's decades-old decision, although none of the results were above EPA guidelines. WANE 15's city water tested lowest, with two total PFAS in the water sample, with a total concentration of 2.9 part per trillion (ppt). The St. Joe River sample also had two PFAS, with a slightly higher concentration of 3.1 ppt. Defiance city tap water had three detectable PFAS with a concentration of 4 ppt. River water from the Maumee, sampled from Fort Wayne's east side, tested highest with eight PFAS and a concentration of 23.4 ppt. "From an enforcement standpoint, you're within compliance," explained Cyclopure CEO Frank Cassou about the Maumee numbers, "because your PFOS is at four ppt. From a health standpoint, that would be of concern, because the EPA has said zero is the level for PFOA and PFOS." For PFOA and PFOS, EPA is setting a non-enforceable healthbased goal of zero. This is called a Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG). • This reflects the latest science showing that there is no level of exposure to these two PFAS without risk of health impacts. www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-04/drinking-water-utilities-and-professionals-technical-overview-of-pfas-npdwr.pdf Again, Fort Wayne does not use the Maumee for drinking water and the EPA does not require the city to test its wastewater, which would include the Maumee. By the time the Maumee water in Allen County gets to Defiance, new, fresh water would help lower the concentration levels. "It [PFAS] hasn't really been an issue on raw or finished water sample collections over the last five to six years we've been testing here," said Defiance Water Treatment Superintendent Joe Ewers. Matthew Wertz, Fort Wayne City Utilities Chief Engineer agreed. "Currently, everything we've seen to date with testing [shows} we're in a good position for drinking water and, really, PFAS in general in our area." While Cassou said Cyclopure kits use the same materials as utility testing, Wertz said the preparations are far more extensive. "If you're going to do PFAS sampling, you're not supposed to have touched cosmetics in the last 24 hours," he said. "You're not allowed to have filled your car up with gas in the last 24 hours. These tests are that sensitive." LAWSUIT: ‘Forever chemicals’ contaminated Fort Wayne wastewater One part per trillion is often compared to one drop in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools or one inch in 16 million miles or one second out of 31,500 years. To learn more about areas hit hard by PFAS, watch this NewsNation special report, Growing Broke: Forever chemicals tainting food supply, destroying US farms. WTK-Kit-10958-10959-10960-10961-Rowley_09.25.2024IN_OH_D-1Download