Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued its first regulation to limit six PFAS levels in drinking water. The regulation will be 4 parts per trillion (ppt) for two PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) along with a hazard index of 1.0 for the other 4 PFAS (PFHxS, GenX, PFNA, and PFBS).

The City of New Port Richey has been testing our water supply for these six regulated PFAS and to date have completed three quarters of testing and have had no detection of any of these contaminants in our water supply. The results can be found below.

Please be assured that:

• The City of New Port Richey’s top priority is providing high-quality, clean, safe drinking water to protect public health.
• PFAS are a concern for all communities and we are doing our best to make sure our water supply is not affected.
• We are monitoring the EPA's progress and testing for PFAS and we are working with our Regional Supplier Tampa Bay Water to prepare to address these new regulations.
• We can assure you; we will meet those regulations and continue to supply a high-quality, clean, safe drinking water to all of our customers.

Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Analytical Report

Detection Results for Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Drinking Water Samples

Note: While the results provided may show none of the 29 PFAS were detected above EPA’s Minimum Reporting Levels (MRLs) for the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR5) study, the EPA requires the use of MRLs to ensure consistency of data quality from the many water utilities and laboratories participating in this nationwide study. Laboratories have varying abilities to analyze PFAS to levels lower than MRLs such as Practical Quantitation Limits (PQLs) and Method Detection Limits (MDLs) but the EPA does not allow this lower-level data to be uploaded to their Central Database Exchange for inclusion in the UCMR5 study. Tampa Bay Water analyzed samples to supplement the findings of the City of New Port Richey and other member utilities and reported the findings using methods other than EPA required MRLs. You can view these results at Tampa Bay Water’s website: https://www.tampabaywater.org/quality/water-quality-concerns/pfas/epa-study-results/. It is important to note that results reported below the EPA’s MRLs are primarily qualitative and not quantitative, which means a substance may have been detected but not in a reliably quantifiable amount.

The Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) and the Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) are a series of big changes to the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule. These changes take a proactive approach to improving the current rule by strengthening drinking water treatment requirements, increasing sample reliability, and improving risk communication for lead and copper in drinking water.

The EPA recently revised the Lead and Copper Rule to strengthen its public health protections and clarify its implementation requirements. For more information, visit the EPA website.