Harford County is cutting the time it takes to test its public water for “forever chemicals” from weeks to days. Harford recently became the first county in Maryland to operate its own state-certified laboratory able to test for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a typ e of long-lasting man-made chemicals that are difficult to remove from the environment. These chemicals may also lead to increased risk for negative health effects, including cancers, decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, reduced ability to fight infections, and other impacts. “Safe, reliable drinking water is vital to our community, and my administration is taking a proactive, innovative approach to protecting public health,” Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly said in a statement. “By investing in our own testing capability, we are delivering faster test results, helping us ensure safer drinking water for customers of our public water system.” Harford County conducts more than 230,000 water tests per year to make sure the public water meets all requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Maryland Department of the Environment. County officials report that samples have consistently tested below the maximum contaminant level of 4 parts per trillion, which is about one drop in five Olympic-size swimming pools worth of water. That’s important as the county provides drinking water to more than 130,000 customers. Since 2012, the county has been using an outside lab to test water samples for PFAS. But the process of sending out the samples for testing and analysis can last weeks. Bringing operations in-house will cut the wait time to days and reduce costs. The new laboratory was certified by MDE in December 2025 and is housed in the Abingdon Water Treatment Plant. Harford County invested $700,000 in its water quality infrastructure, including buying a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer, which is used to detect PFAS at extremely low levels to make sure the county’s water is safe to consume. The county hopes to extend testing capabilities to community partners served by well water, including schools, libraries, recreation centers, and others. Environmental chemist Leah Griffin leads the PFAS laboratory team. Griffin earned the 2025 Laboratory Analyst Excellence Award from the Water Environment Federation and the Chesapeake Water Environment Association. ...read more read less