Assistance available for small Iowa communities to meet PFAS compliance

PFAS, commonly called "forever chemicals" can be transported via air or water and potentially contaminate drinking water sources. (Photo by Cami Koons / Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has a free, voluntary monitoring program to help small communities meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initial monitoring mandates for per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS in drinking water.

EPA ruled in June that all public water systems have three years to complete initial PFAS monitoring, as part of an ongoing plan to reduce the prevalence of the chemicals that are linked to various health concerns.

Kathleen Lee, a senior environmental specialist, said Iowa DNR will not have its regulation on the books until next fall, which would leave little time for the state to complete its initial PFAS monitoring.

“We determined that would not necessarily be enough time for all of our small water supplies to complete their initial monitoring,” Lee said. “By offering a free volunteer monitoring program, we would induce our small supplies to get started on their monitoring.”

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Systems serving populations less than 10,000 people have until Oct. 18 to sign up for the voluntary monitoring program. DNR will pay for the shipping and initial monitoring costs for systems that join the program, and some will qualify for reduced testing costs when compliance monitoring begins in 2027.

“By participating in this program, they can save $780 just on sampling costs,” Lee said. “That’s a lot for a water supply that may only serve several hundred people, so we’re happy to be able to assist our small communities with this monitoring cost.”

Lee said the program will also stagger the testing to work with the State Hygienic Laboratory’s capacity.

“We don’t want public water supplies to wait until the last minute, and then there not be enough laboratories available to analyze,” Lee said.

The state has over a million allocated for the voluntary program from its revolving fund and so far, about 200 water supplies have signed up.

Eligible water supplies should have received sign up information from Lee in late August, and she said DNR will reach out to the qualifying water supplies that have not signed up in the next week.

PFAS refer to a large group of chemical compounds that have been used to make materials that are water, grease or stain resistant. The compounds are very difficult to break down and can accumulate in humans and the environment.

Iowa DNR has already tested some of the larger water systems in Iowa, many of which Lee said are participating in an EPA monitoring program.

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