Water Quality - PFAs and Other Info

DECEMBER 2025 PFAS Update from DPW Director Mark Hollowell:

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Construction of upgrades and improvements to the McKeon Water Treatment Facility located at Mary Kennedy Drive in North Attleborough, Massachusetts was partially funded by a grant administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Grant Program. Completed in early 2024, the project involved the addition a new PFAS removal system to the existing treatment facility and provides water quality benefits of removing PFAS from finished drinking water for residents and businesses served in the Town of North Attleborough and neighboring Town of Plainville.

The EPA has amended their new PFAS regulation and are allowing two more years for implementation of PFAS limits, giving drinking water suppliers until 2031 to come into compliance with the new drinking water standard. They have also suspended the pending regulation to prohibit the production of PFAS by manufacturers. 

North Attleborough's Water Division is now working on designs to upgrade the Hillman Well and the Whiting St. Treatment Facility to meet the EPA's new regulations for the ultra-low limit of 4 parts per trillion. Both locations meet the current DEP standard of below 20ppt. The Hillman Well PFAs Improvement Project design is expected to be completed by November/December of this year and Bid in early 2026. Construction should be completed in 2027. The Whiting St. Treatment Plant will be the final project for PFAS removal, which will begin design in 2026 and construction in 2027 through 2028.

In December, a new water treatment system at the McKeon Well, meeting both the MassDEP and EPA's regulations was completed and accepted by DEP.  The Adamsdale Well PFAS facility was completed in January 2024.

The DEP has tested a number of home filtering solutions.  The results of this study can be found in the MassDEP Final Report (PDF).

The Town has worked diligently to address PFAS in its water supply throughout the past 4 years, since MassDEP announced its new PFAS public drinking water standard in October 2020 and in anticipation of the EPA releasing its regulations.  The Town has spent over $11.5M in new treatment facilities and $180,000 in kiosk rental for sensitive subgroups.

The Town has now brought the Adamsdale Well and McKeon Treatment Facility to compliance with MassDEP's regulations and subsequently the EPA's new PFAS regulation.

• Read the DEP Approval of New McKeon Treatment Plant and Full Sampling Results (PDF)

The Town’s private water system, the Kings Grant Water Company, which serves approximately 155 homes, will also be required to comply with the EPA’s new regulations, but the implementation of this new regulation will be under EPA/DEP and is not under the purview of the Town.

The Town remains committed to keeping the impact on our ratepayers to a minimum. While the Town acknowledges that PFAS requirements are good for communities and those consuming our water, the companies that put those contaminants in the water should be held accountable and be a part of the financial solution. The Town would also like to see the EPA commit more funding or provide assistance to those working to bring their wells to compliance in the wake of their new regulation.

We would like to thank Congressman Jake Auchincloss for his earmark of approximately $1 million in funding to assist the Town in addressing PFAS, as well as the commitments the DEP has made to the Town through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program.

Information on PFAs in Drinking Water

• Study of Home Filtration Devices to Remove PFAS -Only 3 meet EPA's New Regulation
• List of Bottled Water Suppliers Sampled by NHDES for PFAs (PDF)
• PFAs Public Information Presentation (PDF)
  Presented to: Board of Public Works - August 4, 2021; Town Council - August 9, 2021; Board of Health - August 10 2021
• DEP Notice of Non-Compliance Regarding McKeon Well (PDF)
• North TV Interview Regarding PFAs in North Attleborough
• PFAs Info Page (EPA.gov)
• PFAs Info Page (Mass.gov)
• PFAs Fact Sheet (Mass.gov)
• Article about PFAs (WBUR.org)
• Information about PFAs in Private Wells (Mass.gov)

Since January of 2024, all of the Town's well systems have met the DEP regulation of below 20ppt of PFAs. As such the Water Division is not required to send quarterly updates to consumers.