Public drinking water across Maine contains 68 contaminants to varying degrees, including forever chemicals, chromium and byproducts of the disinfectants used to clean the water, according to new data from Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit that tracks toxic substances.
The group said the data are meant to help consumers find out what is in their tap water and whether it is safe to drink. It collected test data from 385 Maine water utilities provided by the state’s Department of Health and Human Services from 2014 through 2024. Consumers can find out which chemicals and in what concentrations are in their tap water by typing their zip code into the group’s database.
“It’s about protecting people’s health and getting information out there,” said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with the group. “The contaminants are often a product of where you are located, so if you know PFAS has been an issue in your area, you want to be especially mindful of that.”
The database updates the group’s 2021 data, but it includes more information on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which have become more of a focus among health experts since then. The database does not include private well water.
The database includes whether results from each public water utility exceed its recommended contaminant levels, which are stricter than those of Maine or the federal government. Stoiber said the group’s contaminant levels were drawn from the federal government’s health toxicity database, California laws and the group’s own estimated levels for safe exposure. That has raised some eyebrows at water districts that are following current laws.
“I’m not too happy with it,” said Chuck Harrison, general manager of the Bangor Water District.
He said the group’s low contaminant guidelines are stricter than Maine or federal drinking water standards, which the water district meets. Almost 11,000 customers drink tap water from the Bangor Water District.
For instance, the Environmental Working Group’s data show that haloacetic acid, a water disinfectant byproduct, in Bangor is 29.4 parts per billion. That is 294 times higher than the group’s guidelines, but it meets the legal standard of 60 parts per billion. Haloacetic acid is a possible human carcinogen, according to the National Toxicology Program.
Bangor’s 2023 water quality report also shows the disinfectant byproduct at more than the state average. Bangor’s 2024 water quality report is due out in June.
“The goal is to have zero, but disinfection byproducts are always there to an extent,” said Jason Easterwood, water quality manager in the Bangor Water District.
He said it would be unaffordable for the water district to install a secondary filtering system to screen them out. Stoiber said concerned consumers can filter out disinfection byproducts with a carbon-filter pitcher at their sink. The water district tests for various compounds in the drinking water anywhere from daily to weekly.
Harrison and Easterwood said Bangor water is safe and meets state and federal standards.
“In case it doesn’t, we would have to make a correction,” Harrison said. “I took the filter out of my fridge, and I consume the water on a daily basis.”
Bangor participated in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency test for 25 different PFAS compounds in Floods Pond — the source of the city’s water — five times at the end of 2023. No PFAS were detected in the water supply, Easterwood said.
That wasn’t the case in Carrabbasset Valley in western Maine, where the group’s database showed that one PFAS chemical alone, perfluorooctanoic acid, was 4.92 parts per billion — or 55 times the Environmental Working Group’s recommended level. Two of the 10 drilled wells there have been contaminated with unsafe levels of PFAS, said Eric Copeland, superintendent of the Sugarloaf Water Association.
The association is exploring new well sources for its 3,000 customers. One new well was drilled in the fall, and Copeland hopes to have a second one online next year to replace the two tainted wells.
Copeland thinks the PFAS contamination came from ski wax as the snow at the resort area melted, and the contaminated water got into the wells. Demand for ski and snowboard wax without the pervasive PFAS chemicals is growing, according to the Environmental Working Group. The chemicals are thought to reduce the wear and tear on skis and boost performance.
Copeland faces another problem during the popular spring ski season underway now. The water association also filters surface water from the Carrabbasset River for drinking, but it has a lot of organic compounds in it that require temporarily adding more disinfecting compounds. One result is more disinfecting byproducts in the water, including haloacetic acids.
With the eight ground water wells still supplying water, he said the tap water is safe for drinking, and those who are concerned can use activated carbon pitchers.
“Most people opt to use the tap water,” he said. “It is perfectly safe.”
Lori Valigra is an environment reporter for the BDN’s Maine Focus investigative team. Reach her at lvaligra@bangordailynews.com. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation, a fund at the Maine Community Foundation, and donations by BDN readers.