PFAS in Wastewater Facilities with NPDES Permits

PFAS information related to facilities that treat wastewater that is discharged to surface water.

Overview

Facilities that treat wastewater that is discharged to surface water hold National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits and state Surface Water Discharge (SWD) Permits.  In Massachusetts, EPA and MassDEP both regulate these facilities.

As NPDES permits are renewed, PFAS testing requirements are being added to the permits. The data is uploaded to a public portal.

Industrial facilities

Industrial facilities may be required to test for PFAS if the facility holds a NPDES/SWD permit, or if the facility discharges to a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) that holds a NPDES/SWD permit. Industries looking to decrease PFAS use can contact Massachusetts Office of Technical Assistance and Technology (OTA) for free and confidential pollution prevention assistance.

More information about PFAS monitoring for industrial facilities and how to work with OTA can be found on the MassDEP PFAS in Industrial Discharges page.

MassDEP projects

• Sludge Study (PFAS and Residuals Technology and Management Study) 
  In 2024 MassDEP awarded 2 contracts to analyze sludge disposal and reuse capacity in and outside of the Commonwealth. The three reports are linked below, with additional detail available on the Residuals and Biosolids webpage.
  • Part 1 Technical Memorandum #1: current and near-term destinations of Massachusetts sludge
  • Part 1 Technical Memorandum #2: current and near-term destinations of Massachusetts septage
  • Part 2: Future Options and Associated Costs for Management of Massachusetts Wastewater Sludge, and short summary of the report.
• MassDEP PFAS Testing Study for NPDES POTWsThe study sampled all 114 Massachusetts municipal wastewater treatment plants in the NPDES program. It is the first comprehensive study of wastewater PFAS across Massachusetts.
• Ongoing PFAS Pollution Prevention project – Collaborative effort of MassDEP, EEA Office of Technical Assistance (OTA), and EPA.
• Analysis of PFAS in Massachusetts Rivers with the United States Geological Survey (USGS), August to November 2020. Sampling sites were located upstream or downstream of discharges from 24 wastewater treatment facilities and at 16 other stream sites, including sites downstream of suspected nonpoint and industrial sources and at sites not associated with suspected PFAS sources.
• Ongoing study of PFAS in wastewater, in collaboration with the USGS, 2022 to present

More information

For more information:

• Public PFAS portal with wastewater data
• Approved laboratories and laboratory testing methods for wastewater
• How to submit wastewater PFAS data into eDEP

For more information about MassDEP’s requirements for testing PFAS in Wastewater Facilities with NPDES-Permitted Discharges, contact the NPDES Program at [e-mail].