A new water filtration system to remove forever chemicals is expected to be installed at Hermon High School in the next 30 days.
For nearly a year, high school students have been drinking bottled water and the kitchen has been using it for cooking because of high levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals, or PFAS. High school and middle school meals are cooked in the building.
The school has gone through nearly nine pallets of water since the start of the 2023-2024 school year, Superintendent Micah Grant said. The Danforth’s Down Home Supermarket has been very helpful with ensuring the school has access to water.
“We’ve been drinking a lot of water,” he said.
A water filtration system was approved in April, but a tremendous backlog means the school still has not received the filters, Grant said. The initial cost of up to $60,000 can be reimbursed by the state’s Small Public Water System Emerging Contaminants Grant.
If everything goes as planned, the new filtration system should be in place by the end of February. The first step was the installation of plumbing, which went in last week, Grant said.
The system won’t be used until the next quarterly test results come in, he said.
The school’s PFAS levels are still above the state-ordered do-not-drink level of so-called forever chemicals, as of a test announced Jan. 26. The level announced in February 2023 was 20.7 parts per trillion. The state mandates remediation for tests above 20 parts per trillion.
