WEST PLAINS, Wash. – The Washington Department of Health will install water filters in West Plains homes next month to address PFAS contamination in local wells.
The point-of-use filters will remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals that can cause liver damage and increase cancer risk.
“DOH has gone beyond the minimum requirements of their duty to help us in this neighborhood,” said John Hancock, president of the West Plains Water Coalition. “There are homes that have 100 times worse trouble than I do. These professionally installed filters from DOH are really the answer to PFAS in your kitchen.”
Karen Arndt has relied on bottled water for over a year because her well water is unsafe for drinking or cooking.
“I use the bottled water for drinking, if I’m rinsing fruit. I obviously can’t use it for washing my dishes or showering,” Arndt said.
The kitchen filters will provide clean drinking water, but residents will still need contaminated water for dishwashers, laundry, and showers until whole-house systems are installed.
The state legislature allocated $7 million for whole-house filters costing $2,000 to $4,000 each.
“With $7 million recently allocated from the state legislature is a program for whole house filters for several more hundred neighbors who have even more polluted water than mine,” Hancock said.
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