{"id":88333,"date":"2023-09-05T15:01:17","date_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=88333"},"modified":"2023-09-05T15:01:18","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T15:01:18","slug":"water-quality-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2023\/09\/water-quality-information\/","title":{"rendered":"Water quality information"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Sept. 5, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Important information about your drinking water<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In June 2022, the State of Rhode Island approved legislation setting a new interim drinking water standard related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Rhode Island is among the first states in the nation to implement a PFAS standard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historically, PFAS levels in well water at the º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½ have met U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidance values and Rhode Island drinking water standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Kingston Campus water system recently reported concentrations of PFAS above the state\u2019s new interim drinking water standard of 20 parts per trillion (ppt). While there is not an immediate risk, as members of our community, you have a right to know what happened and what we are doing to correct the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We routinely monitor for the presence of drinking water contaminants. Results from testing conducted in June 2023 and July 2023 show that our system reported an average concentration of 29 ppt, which is above the state\u2019s interim standard for PFAS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The results are listed in the public notice available at <a href=\"http:\/\/uri.edu\/pfas-information\">uri.edu\/pfas-information<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What should I do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, you do not need to use an alternative water supply (e.g., bottled water).<\/strong> The Department of Health issues do-not-drink notices only for systems with test results of 70 ppt or more. The University\u2019s system is well below that level (at an average concentration of 29 ppt).<\/li><li>If you have specific health concerns, please consult your health care provider.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What does this mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>This is not an immediate risk. If it had been, you would have been notified immediately.<\/strong><\/li><li>According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, nearly everyone has a low level of PFAS in their blood. People can be exposed to PFAS by eating food, drinking water, accidentally ingesting dust, or breathing air polluted with PFAS.<\/li><li>The Department of Health indicates that routine showering, bathing, and swimming are not a major source of exposure to PFAS. More information is available at health.ri.gov\/water\/about\/pfas\/.<\/li><li>Studies have shown that PFAS builds up in the body and can have negative health effects. For more information about PFAS and its health effects, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/health.ri.gov\/water\/about\/pfas\/\">health.ri.gov\/healthrisks\/contaminants\/about\/pfas\/<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What is being done?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>We are implementing upgrades to the water system that are designed to reduce PFAS to levels well below the Rhode Island interim drinking water standard.<\/li><li>We are installing point-of-use filtration systems, aimed at reducing PFAS levels, at multiple locations throughout the Kingston Campus. While it is not necessary to utilize locations with added filtration, we are making those available to our community. An interactive map indicating those locations is available on the University\u2019s designated <a href=\"https:\/\/pfas-uriadmin.hub.arcgis.com\/\">PFAS website<\/a>.<\/li><li>We are designing and building a new water treatment facility planned to reduce PFAS to levels well below the state\u2019s interim drinking water standard.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where can I learn more?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The University has created a designated website where you can learn more about PFAS. The site includes an interactive map that identifies the locations of point-of-use filtration systems, answers to frequently asked questions, and links to additional resources. <strong>Visit the site at <a href=\"https:\/\/pfas-uriadmin.hub.arcgis.com\/\">uri.edu\/pfas-information<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li><li>The University publishes an annual water quality report. The latest report is available at <a href=\"http:\/\/web.uri.edu\/facilities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/141\/2022_º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½_Drinking_Water_Quality_Report-Final.pdf\">web.uri.edu\/facilities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/141\/2022_º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½_Drinking_Water_Quality_Report-Final.pdf<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Any health-related questions should be directed to your health care provider.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about PFAS and answers to frequently asked questions, visit the Rhode Island Department of Health site at <a href=\"http:\/\/health.ri.gov\/healthrisks\/contaminants\/about\/pfas\/\">health.ri.gov\/healthrisks\/contaminants\/about\/pfas\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For questions about º¬Ð߲ݴ«Ã½\u2019s water system, please contact Matthew Simeone, water system manager, at <a href=\"mailto:matthew_simeone@uri.edu\">matthew_simeone@uri.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sept. 5, 2023 Important information about your drinking water In June 2022, the State of Rhode Island approved legislation setting a new interim drinking water standard related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Rhode Island is among the first states in the nation to implement a PFAS standard. Historically, PFAS levels in well water at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1866],"tags":[1857,1858,1856],"class_list":["post-88333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-message","tag-audience-faculty","tag-audience-staff","tag-audience-students"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88334,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88333\/revisions\/88334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}