Wayland PFAS Filter May Be Ready By End Of 2021: Town

WAYLAND, MA — Wayland will soon begin installing a filtration system to remove PFAS chemicals from a main town drinking water source, and officials anticipate the town could be in line with state PFAS standards before the end of 2021.

The elevated PFAS levels were detected in the spring at the Happy Hollow well field near Wayland High School. The state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) recently granted Wayland a permit to construct an ion exchange filter to remove PFAS.

After the permit was granted, Wayland entered into a contract with the firm ECT2 to install the ion exchange system. The town has hired Barbato Construction to build a pad for the filters, and construction could be done by early November. Wayland is also planning to hire a firm in October to build a structure around the filters.

Once all the equipment is installed, Wayland can send water samples to MassDEP for testing. That means PFAS levels could be certified under state standards before the end of December.

The state instituted new PFAS standards one year ago. Any municipal water source that contains more than 20 nanograms per liter (ng/l) of the six PFAS compounds is considered above the acceptable limit. Happy Hollow wells have tested as high as 29.2 ng/l this year, and the town still hasn't pinpointed an exact source of the PFAS.

PFAS are a group of polyfluoroalkyl chemicals that have been used in a variety of industrial and consumer products, everything from nonstick pans to foam used by firefighters. The chemicals can build up in the body over time, and may cause cancer, thyroid disease and birth defects, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The installation of a filter system is only a short-term fix. Wayland will also have to figure out a long-term solution to the PFAS contamination, which will mean finding the source of the chemicals.

Wayland is not alone in discovering high PFAS levels after the new state standards began this year. About 20 percent of communities in Massachusetts that provide water for 10,000 or more people have discovered elevated PFAS levels, including nearby towns like Natick and Wellesley.