Poolesville's staff, and our engineering team working in coordination the folks at the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Water Division are pleased to announce that Well #3 is back in service. Earlier in the year, MDE testing indicated elevated levels of PFAS (also known as forever chemicals) were in the water. The Town immediately removed the well from operation and sent out notices to the residents.
The Town began seeking treatment solutions. Granular activated carbon filters were identified as a potential solution. The Town developed and the MDE approved a pilot program to filter the drinking water using this technology. After months of testing, all lab results still indicated PFAS levels as non-detectable.
Although the MDE has approved the units for operation, the Town will continue an aggressive sampling program for the foreseeable future. Once additional data is collected, and in coordination with the MDE, this filtration system may be deployed on Well #2 that remains offline.