James Fox, Campus Carrier deputy news editor

The city of Rome has decided on a location for its new water treatment plant, which will ensure that Rome’s already safe water is made even more so. 

“Rome is downstream of the carpet industry in Dalton and Calhoun and places like that,” Zack Taylor, associate professor of environmental science, said. “Those industries and many others use a whole slew of chemicals called [perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)], forever chemicals that don’t break down.”

PFAS are dangerous chemicals that are often released as a result of industrial manufacturing. Even just a small amount is harmful to humans. 

“I think the current safe limit is two parts per trillion,” Taylor said. “So very tiny amounts of [PFAS] can cause pretty significant harm to people.”

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are associated with causing increased risk of certain cancers (such as testicular, prostate and kidney cancer), weakening of the immune system, liver damage, fertility issues, hormone interference, pregnancy complications, increased cholesterol and thyroid disease. Symptoms of PFAS ingestion include itchiness in the mouth, tongue and throat and irritation in the chest and lungs.

The biggest route of PFAS exposure is through drinking contaminated or unclean water. Ingesting foods that may contain PFAS (through being washed in contaminated water or grown in contaminated soil), such as vegetables, fruit and fish, can also lead to PFAS exposure. PFAS blood testing can be used to measure the amount of PFAS found in one’s blood.

The city of Rome sued industries dumping PFAS into the river and will use the money to build a second water treatment plant along Riverside Avenue. One water treatment plant is enough to decrease the presence of PFAS exponentially, but a second one in operation makes things more efficient.

On top of reducing the presence of PFAS in water, water treatment plants also help to protect local bodies of water by reducing the amount of wastewater that is released into ecosystems. Having two water treatment plants will ultimately lead to safer water to drink and less waste being placed in natural ecosystems for the Rome community.

“The current treatment plant is dealing with PFAS quite well,” Taylor said, “The second treatment plant will just make it easier to deal with [PFAS]. So that’s why Rome is getting a new treatment plant.”

The new treatment plant utilizes reverse osmosis as a means to purify the water and hopefully make Rome’s water even safer to drink moving into the future. 

“The water is fine,” Taylor said. “I’m good friends with Jesse Demonbruen-Chapman, [executive director of the Coosa River Basin Initiative], he and his family drink the water out of the tap. [The second water treatment plant] will help clean the water up. PFAS is this whole giant problem. They’ve been used a lot and now they’re kind of everywhere and they don’t break down. So this is one small step in the right direction.” 

While Berry won’t be impacted by the addition of the new water treatment plant since the school gets its water from the reservoir on Mountain Campus, it is still important that we all keep ourselves informed on what steps can be made to allow for a future in which humans significantly decrease their impact on the environment.