Macon’s tap water is free of harmful ‘forever chemicals,’ water authority announces

The Macon Water Authority announced last week that its drinking water is free of harmful so-called “forever chemicals.”

State environmental regulators tested water samples at public utilities across Georgia last fall as part of a study of the prevalence of PFAS, a class of manufactured chemicals that the EPA announced nationwide limits on last month.

The Macon Water Authority is one of a small number of utilities in Georgia that has already been treating its water to remove PFAS using a filtration method called granular activated carbon, which it first implemented in 2000 at the Frank C. Amerson Jr. Water Treatment Plant.

“The lab results and data collected on PFAS from our most recent testing, which were included in the state’s PFAS Study, provide good news for our customers,” said Gary McCoy, the utility’s director of water treatment, in a press release. “We continually take water samples and conduct water quality tests at a rate that’s 10 times what’s required by our regulatory agencies, because we want to do all we can to make sure our drinking water is clean and safe for our customers.”

PFAS have been identified in a wide range of commercial products, including waterproof clothing, shampoo, nonstick pans, dental floss, and toilet paper. Manufacturers began using them in the 1940s.

The EPA’s new limits on PFAS in drinking water, which have yet to go into effect, come after scientists recently found exposure to the chemicals can cause liver cancer and other diseases.

PFAS are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals” due to the extremely long amount of time it takes for them to break down naturally.

The chemicals are at the heart of a lawsuit in northern Georgia, where the city of Rome has accused Dalton Utilities of polluting the Oostanaula River — Rome’s main water source — with PFAS.

Dalton Utilities treats the wastewater in Dalton, a city upstream of Rome that hosts a large carpet manufacturing industry, which has been identified as a source of PFAS.