Town of Wappinger United Water District - 1 well down due to PFOA/PFOS contamination

On December 19, 2023, the Town of Wappinger sent out a notice to residents about their drinking water, The notice warned that 1 of 10 wells tested above allowable levels for chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the Town’s drinking water.

The well affected is Hilltop well #5. On August 1, 2023, this well’s testing resulted in PFOA at a level of 5.66 parts per trillion (ppt) and PFOS at a level of 10.7 ppt. Additional samples collected from that well on November 6, 2023 resulted in PFOA at a level of 25.9 ppt and PFOS at a level of 18.8 ppt. These results are above New York State’s which allows maximum contaminant levels (MCL) of 10 ppt for PFOA and PFOS in public water drinking water systems.

The well was immediately taken off line and remedies are being studied. Hilltop well #5 produced 12% of Wappingers United District supply.

The Town owns the water district and it is comprised of 3 local groundwater aquifers. The Hilltop and Meadowwood wellfields are situated along the Sprout Creek. The Atlas wellfield, Wappingers most productive wells, are situated along the Wappinger Creek.

The system serves 14,000 service properties. The 2021 total permitted water withdrawal capacity is 2.23 million gallons per day (MGD). According to a 2021 report, average daily water demand is 0.987 MGD, maximum daily water demand is 1.6 MGD.

This information was sourced from a 2022 report issued by the Town of Wappinger Drinking Water Source Protection Program Plan, It is available on the town’s website.

https://townofwappingerny.gov/water-quality-reports