PUEBLO — A new report shows forever chemicals or PFAS are in private well water in several parts of Pueblo County. That report was just released by The Pueblo Department of Public Health and Environment (PDPHE).
An Environmental Health Specialist, Megan Crawford with PDPHE said the department received a grant to conduct the study.
What is in your water and is it safe to drink? The Colorado Department of Health requires all public water districts to filter their water and test for chemicals. Crawford said there's approximately eight different water districts in Pueblo County.
But many people who live in the rural parts of Pueblo County, like off Highway 50, drink water from private wells. These wells are not regulated. The health department said some of these neighborhoods need filtration systems.
PFAS can be found in household items like non-stick cookware and stain-resistant carpets. PDPHE tested private wells across Pueblo County to see how much PFAS chemicals were in the water.
“A majority of the results showed that PFAS is non detect in a lot of the wells throughout Pueblo County. It did show some high spikes within Pueblo County,” Crawford said.
They found high levels of PFAS chemicals in the 81008 zip code which includes Ridge, Wigwam and Overton Road. They also found above average levels in the 81006 zip code of Pueblo County including Salt Creek, Blende, Baxter, and Vineland.
“So that did show a higher average than most of the other places currently,” Crawford said.
In the study, PDPHE recommends people who live there to take immediate action and get filtration systems for these wells.
“Right now, the only way to reduce your exposure to PFAS is by getting a reverse osmosis water filtration system or an activated granular carbon filtration system. That's going to be the only way, right now that we know of, that anyone really knows of to get rid of, or not get rid of, but reduce their exposure,” Crawford said.
Crawford said the filtration systems can range from $50 to $300. According to PDPHE, PFAS chemicals can have health risks.
“Like high... cortisol levels, it could impact your immunity, decrease in birth weights for pregnant women. So there's potential. We just don't know,” Crawford said.
Scientists are still studying the long term health effects.
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