PFAS (PFOA) Drinking Water Notice & Information – February 2026

As previously noted, during the initial Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5) water sampling event in 2025, one Village well was inactive due to the rebuilding of the pump and therefore was sampled after initial results were reported. Those test results have now been received. All PFAS compounds tested in that well were below the 
reporting level.

With receipt of these results, the Village has now completed all required UCMR 5 monitoring.

The Village will be required to complete additional PFAS compliance monitoring before April 26, 2027. This monitoring consists of two sampling events, conducted five to seven months apart, for six (6) PFAS compounds and one (1) PFAS combination mixture. Beginning after April 2027, and provided future monitoring results remain below applicable thresholds, the Village will transition to triennial compliance monitoring.

The Village’s 2025 Consumer Confidence Report (Annual Water Quality Report) is now available on the Village website. The 2025 report is the most recently completed report and includes required water quality information and regulatory notifications. Consumer Confidence Reports dating back to 2012 are also available online.

Under the federal Public Notification Rule, community water systems must notify customers when UCMR results become available and provide access to those results within 12 months of receipt. This notification is typically provided through the annual Consumer Confidence Report, which must be made available to customers by July 1 each year.

Additionally, the Consumer Confidence Report Rule requires community water systems to report monitoring results when unregulated contaminants are measured at or above their applicable UCMR 5 minimum reporting levels. Systems must report the average and range of those occurrences in table format. Accordingly, the Village’s 2025 Consumer Confidence Report includes all 2025 UCMR 5 occurrences. 

Village of Elburn Press Release

March 11, 2026
For Immediate Release

Elburn, IL — The Village of Elburn is committed to providing safe, high-quality drinking water and keeping residents informed about water quality monitoring efforts.

Following the detection of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a type of PFAS compound, in a December 2025 sample collected as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) testing program, the Village conducted additional testing to further evaluate the water supply.

The Village has now received results from this follow-up testing. No PFAS compounds were detected in the retest samples.

To ensure consistency, the Village used the same certified laboratory that performed the original testing. Two samples were collected and analyzed:

• One sample from the Finished Tap, the same sampling location used during the U.S. EPA’s December testing.
• One sample from the Raw Tap, which measures untreated water before it enters the treatment process. Sampling from the Raw Tap is not required by the U.S. EPA, but the Village included it to provide additional information about the water supply.

Both samples showed no detectable PFAS compounds.

The Village will share these results with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and will work with the agency to determine any appropriate next steps or follow-up actions.

While these latest results are encouraging, the Village will continue to take a proactive approach to water quality monitoring. Additional PFAS sampling will be conducted multiple times throughout the year to continue evaluating the water system and ensure ongoing safety.

The Village remains committed to transparency and will continue to share updates with residents as more information becomes available.

For additional information, visit the Village's Drinking Water & PFAS webpage.

The recent PFOA test results represent one piece of information in the Village’s ongoing review of water quality. Additional sampling is underway to determine whether a problem exists and, if so, to what extent it may affect the water supply.

At this time, no specific source of the detected PFOA has been identified. PFAS compounds, including PFOA, have been used in a variety of industrial, commercial, and consumer applications and are widely present at low levels in the environment. Because these compounds are persistent and can migrate through groundwater over long periods, detections do not necessarily indicate a nearby or recent release.

The Village’s water supply is drawn from deep sandstone aquifers more than 1,000 feet below ground surface. Village staff and the Village’s engineering consultants are actively reviewing available data to better understand existing conditions and potential contributing factors. Additional sampling and evaluation are ongoing.

The Village currently operates Water Remediation Technology (WRT) treatment systems at each of its wells for radium treatment—not PFAS. These systems are designed to maintain water quality and meet existing regulatory standards. While the WRT systems provide important treatment of radium removal, they were not specifically designed to remove PFAS compounds.

The Village Board received a presentation on February 2, 2026, regarding additional treatment options, primarily focused on addressing radium. 

Village staff and the Village’s engineers are actively evaluating these options. As additional information becomes available, the Village will continue updating residents on planned steps to ensure regulatory compliance and safe drinking water.

The Village of Elburn relies on three deep wells for its municipal water supply. Each well is drilled to depths exceeding 1,000 feet into a regional sandstone bedrock aquifer system. The primary water-yielding formations are the St. Peter Sandstone and the deeper Ironton-Galesville Sandstone.

These sandstone aquifers are overlain by a thick, low-permeability shale layer known as the Maquoketa Group, which acts as a natural confining layer. Many surrounding communities also draw their drinking water from this regional aquifer system.

Testing in 2025 was conducted under the Fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 5), a national monitoring program administered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the EPA is required every five years to identify a list of unregulated contaminants that public water systems must monitor. UCMR 5, published on December 27, 2021, requires sampling for 30 chemical contaminants between 2023 and 2025 — including 29 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and lithium.

Why Elburn Tested in 2025

• UCMR 5 required the Village to sample twice in 2025 (June and December). Because there were no PFAS detections during 2020 pre-testing, Elburn was scheduled in the final year of the national monitoring cycle.
• Only Village-owned wells were sampled, as required by USEPA.
• One well was inactive during the initial sampling event and has since been sampled; results are pending.

What Is the Purpose of UCMR 5?

UCMR 5 is designed to collect scientifically valid, nationwide data on contaminants that do not yet have health-based standards. The program helps the EPA:

• Understand how frequently and at what levels these contaminants occur in drinking water.
• Identify trends and areas of elevated concern.
• Inform future regulatory and risk management decisions.
• Prioritize infrastructure funding for communities that may need advanced treatment.

Important: UCMR 5 does not establish enforceable drinking water standards and does not automatically require treatment. Instead, it provides occurrence data that may support future rulemaking under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.

Testing Results

UCMR 5 results for all participating water systems nationwide, including IL0890300 (Elburn), are publicly available through EPA’s National Contaminant Occurrence Database and the UCMR 5 Data Finder. Data sets have been released quarterly since July 2023, and most results are already available.

Results from Elburn’s December 2025 sampling event have not yet been publicly released and are expected to be included in the final dataset scheduled for release in fall 2026.

In addition to federal requirements, PFAS are regulated at the state level in Illinois.

As required by Public Act 103-1077, the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) adopted rules establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for PFAS that are “identical in substance” to U.S. EPA MCLs.

• An MCL is the maximum amount of a specific substance allowed in drinking water that is considered protective of human health, or the minimum reporting level established for that substance.
• MCLs are enforceable standards that apply to community water systems.
• The U.S. EPA established MCLs for six PFAS in April 2024.

Under federal rules, water systems must complete initial monitoring by April 2027 and achieve compliance with MCLs by 2029. The EPA has announced an extension of the compliance deadline to 2031 to address operational and implementation challenges.

The Village of Elburn will continue to follow all applicable federal and state requirements.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has established a schedule for ongoing sampling based on water system size and source. For the Village of Elburn, this means two samples are required to be collected each year, approximately six months apart, at the entry point to the distribution system (EPTDS). 

The Village’s Consumer Confidence Reports (Annual Water Quality Reports) are available on the Village website. The 2024 report is the most recently completed and has been available since July 1, 2025, as required by regulation. Reports dating back to 2012 are also available online.

The 2025 report — which will include PFAS monitoring results — is due by July 1, 2026.

PFAS was not included in prior reports because no detections had occurred.

Under the federal Public Notification Rule, community water systems must notify customers when UCMR results become available and provide access to those results within 12 months of receiving them. This notice is typically included in the annual Consumer Confidence Report, which must be delivered by July 1 each year.

Additionally, the CCR Rule requires community water systems to report monitoring results when unregulated contaminants are measured at or above their respective UCMR 5 minimum reporting levels. Systems must report the average and range of those occurrences in table format. Accordingly, Elburn will include all 2025 UCMR 5 occurrences in the 2025 Consumer Confidence Report.

The Village is not reimbursing residents for the purchase of water filtration systems or bottled water.

The Village continues to monitor water quality closely and remains committed to meeting all state and federal drinking water standards.

The Village understands that residents may have concerns following receipt of the PFAS Right-to-Know Notice and questions about water utility billing.

While recent sampling identified PFAS detections requiring public notification, the Village’s water system continues to operate in accordance with current state and federal regulatory requirements. Public water systems are provided a compliance period to further evaluate sampling results, conduct additional testing, and implement any required treatment measures.

Water utility billing supports the ongoing operation and maintenance of the Village’s drinking water system. This includes water testing, infrastructure maintenance, regulatory compliance activities, system operations, and planning for potential treatment improvements. These services remain essential to ensure the continued delivery of safe and reliable drinking water to the community.

For these reasons, suspension of water billing is not being considered at this time. Village staff and the Village’s engineering consultants are continuing to evaluate sampling data and complete additional testing to guide next steps. Updates will be shared as additional information becomes available.

The Village has been sampled for PFAS three times:

• November 18, 2020 – No detectable PFAS
• June 2, 2025 – No detectable PFAS
• December 2, 2025 – Sample showing elevated levels of PFOA

Approximately 28 PFAS compounds were included in the December 2, 2025 test bank. Of the 28 results, only one PFAS compound (PFOA) was elevated. The December 2025 sample is the first instance in which PFAS has been detected above the applicable reporting level. 

PFAS testing is a specialized laboratory process that takes approximately 28 days to complete. In this instance, the laboratory experienced an additional reporting backlog of approximately one month before final results were issued. The Village received formal notification of the December 2, 2025 sample results from the IEPA on February 11, 2026 at approximately the same time the information became publicly available. 

Upon receipt of the notification, Village staff immediately engaged with the IEPA to clarify procedural requirements and the process for moving forward. Village staff and the Village’s engineers are evaluating the sampling data, assessing potential impacts, and determining appropriate next steps.

The Village is also conducting additional sampling to confirm and further evaluate the results. Updated timing for retesting results will depend on laboratory processing times.

Water customers with concerns may consider using certified filters while additional evaluation and testing are underway as certain water filters are shown to effectively reduce or remove PFAS levels. 

• Charcoal (Granular Activated Carbon or GAC) – traps chemicals as water flows through
• Reverse Osmosis (RO) Systems – filters out pollutants using a thin membrane
• Ion Exchange Resins – small beads that attract and hold contaminants

Use filters that meet National Sanitation Foundation/American National Standards Institute (NSF/ANSI) standards, specifically NSF/ANSI 53 (for reducing health-related contaminants, including PFAS) or NSF/ANSI 58 (for reverse osmosis systems). You can verify certification at: https://info.nsf.org/Certified/dwtu/. Be sure to replace filters as directed by the manufacturer; failure to do so can increase PFAS exposure.

With any issue of this nature, there could be some illegitimate or unethical businesses that use high-pressure tactics and deceptive claims to try to take advantage of consumers. You can recognize these calls by warning signs like automated messages, promises of free items for a fee, threats of legal action, or pressure to act immediately without allowing time to review information. If you aren’t sure if a business is legitimate, do not share personal information, hang up, and report violations to the Federal Trade Commission.

For broader questions regarding PFAS health information, statewide regulations, or the Illinois EPA testing and notification process, please contact:

Jeff Guy
Illinois EPA Office of Community Relations
(217) 785-8724
Jeff.Guy [at] illinois.gov (Jeff[dot]Guy[at]illinois[dot]gov)

Residents with questions specifically related to Elburn’s water system, local sampling results, or Village operations are encouraged to contact the Village of Elburn Public Works Department at (630) 365-5064.