Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2021VA002PFAS

Characterizing Prevalence and Risk Factors of PFAS in Rural Private and Community Water Supplies

Institute: Virginia
USGS Grant Number:
Year Established: 2021 Start Date: 2021-09-01 End Date: 2023-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $250,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $250,004

Principal Investigators: Leigh-Anne Krometis

Project Summary: Increasing evidence suggests that per-and polyflouroalkyl substances (PFAS) are ubiquitous in the environment, and that exposure to these chemicals presents a risk to the public health. The proposed effort aims to identify key geologic, anthropogenic, and socioeconomic factors that are predictive of the presence of PFAS in groundwater-sourced private water supplies (household wells and springs), which may be uniquely vulnerable to PFAS contamination. Through a partnership with an established Cooperative Extension program, we will collect drinking water samples for PFAS analysis from Virginia counties representative of a range of underlying geologies and legacy sites, as well as linked information on household demographics and private water system design and maintenance. In addition to determining potential differences in PFAS exposure risk across geologic regions and household risk factors for exposure, the household drinking water sampling procedures and PFAS communication strategies developed will be useful to water quality and public health managers tracking the incidence and impacts of emerging environmental contaminants in rural communities.