The Natick Department of Public Works Water/Sewer Division is fired up that its new filters, seen at the Springvale Water Treatment Facility on Rte. 9 east, are now extracting nasty chemicals from the town’s drinking water.

(If only those systems could filter acronyms out of town announcements, but I guess that’s our job…)

“After much hard work and coordination between contractors and Town staff, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has completed inspections and granted approval for the operation of the newly installed PFAS-removal Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) filters, which will treat the H&T portion of the Springvale Water Treatment Facility….”

The bottom line is that the filters are expected to reduce levels of PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) from the town’s drinking water down to the non-detection level. Initial tests look good, according to the DPW. Two additional filters should be up by summer to increase PFAS-free water supply in town.

By meeting state regulations thanks to the filters. Natick will longer suggest using bottled water for certain subgroups of the population.

Natick discovered elevated levels of Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the town’s drinking water during the process of getting a new well online in 2020. Since then the town has been taking actions, including a water ban and tapping wells usually off limits at certain times, to mitigate the problem.

The filters, funded through a $3M capital appropriation at 2021 Spring Town Meeting and emergency funding through the state, are designed to extract PFAS from 2 million gallons of water a day and allow the plant to pump out 4 million gallons of water by mixing in other clean water.

Natick has also begun researching the cause of PFAS in the water.