Ohio EPA grant begins effort to remove 'forever chemicals' from Loveland water

The city of Loveland has received $1.3 million in funding from the Ohio EPA to design a way to keep so-called “forever chemicals” out of its drinking water.

The money, in the form of a forgivable loan, is an initial step toward complying with new federal regulations that, when they take effect, will reduce the permitted amount of the chemicals in public water systems.

In Loveland, data released in 2023 showed one forever-chemical compound measuring four times the level of a new EPA standard. The city says three of its wells measured over the EPA’s new maximum level for PFOS, a type of PFAS chemical. 

It hired an engineering firm to evaluate the city’s water treatment plant and make recommendations for how the facility may need to be modified to meet the future regulations. The city says it will work with a design firm on those plans.

Although the chemical data was released in 2023, public water systems, including Loveland’s, have at least six more years before they are required to comply with the new, lower levels and begin notifying their residents about it. In May, current EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to extend the deadline for compliance by two years to 2031.

The funding “allows the city of Loveland to move forward with the engineering and design work needed to remove PFAS from our water system,” says Mayor Kathy Bailey. “Loveland is working toward meeting the new standards, and this funding helps move us closer to compliance by the deadline."

The funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was passed by Congress and signed by then-President Biden in 2021.

The roughly 13,000 residents of Loveland, as well as some residents of Symmes Township and Miami Township, get tap water from the city of Loveland. In 2023, the U.S. EPA released data showing that hundreds of water systems around the country have detected PFAS.

PFAS, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, are a group of nearly indestructible chemicals that can build up in the body over time. These manufactured chemicals have been used in industry and consumer products for decades, and have been found in products like nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, cleaning products, shampoo, and makeup.

Factories that make these chemicals can discharge them into water supplies. As a result, the EPA in 2024 established a new, lower standard for PFAS and required water systems to complete monitoring for it by 2029.

Water systems in Ohio are currently not required to treat or test for PFAS in their water supplies. The new EPA regulations would change that.

Earlier this year under President Trump, the EPA moved the deadline for compliance back two years, giving water systems now until 2031 to complete monitoring and begin notifying the public about the presence of forever chemicals in their water.

In the meantime, the city of Loveland suggests its water customers consider installing a filter on their home systems.

Loveland officials say the city "will continue to explore all opportunities for additional funding" to help pay for future construction of the improvements to its water system. In 2023, Loveland joined class-action lawsuits against 3M, Dupont, BASF, and Tyco claiming the chemical makers discharged PFAS to groundwater.