Customers worried after reports of Teflon-related chemical in water supply

Sanitation and water crews for three districts in southern Colorado are tracking the source of a contamination discovered by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Those crews say they found out about the contamination from an article in the Colorado Springs Business Journal earlier this week.

The EPA did report an abnormal level of perfluoroalkyls, or PFA, in the Security, Widefield and Fountain water districts. The chemical is found in Teflon, but the level of contamination was still well below the safety levels mandated.

The news is still uncomfortable to customers.

“The contaminants in the water are a big concern,” Antonia Stewart, who works at a coffee shop in Fountain. “We really need water for every transaction, even ice, for the coffee, for pretty much everything.”

Directors at all three water districts told KRDO NewsChannel 13 there was no reason for customers to be worried about water quality, because the levels of the PFA were still well below any risk level declared by the FDA.

“We’re used to looking for regulated contaminants, we’re pretty familiar with those. But the unregulated ones, we rely on the EPA to determine the impact,” said Roy Heald with Security Sanitation District. “If there were more of a risk, I imagine the EPA would have told us to send an alert.”

Heald said they spent Friday going through EPA records, and determined two of the district’s 25 wells may have been the source of the contamination. Out of an abundance of caution, they shut the wells down, but said customers won’t see an impact because it’s a minute portion of the district’s total water supply.

Spokespersons for the other two districts say no source of contamination had been found and echoed the message that there was no risk to the general public.

“Teflon particles sound a little more dangerous than, say, a high amount of fluoride as we usually get in some of our water,” Stewart said.