Channahon, other Illinois communities see PFAS levels exceed quality standards

The village of Channahon is one of 47 community water systems in Illinois notified by the Illinois EPA (IEPA) that PFAS detected in the groundwater exceed newly enacted state-level quality standards.

On Friday, the village notified residents it will cease using three contaminated wells, effective Monday, to meet IEPA standards for regulated PFAS, more commonly known as "forever chemicals."

Despite the finding, officials say the water in the community is still safe to drink.

"The water supply is completely safe to drink," said Ed Dolezal, the Director for Public Works in Channahon. "Fortunately, that (noticed) only accounted for about less than 10% of our total water supply."

Water to homes, businesses and schools that use the three affected wells will now be supplied by the remaining two village wells.

"They are free of PFAS," said Dolezal. "We have the ability to move the water back and forth across the town."

Nicknamed "forever chemicals," PFAS are commonly used in nonstick or stain resistant cookware, and firefighting foam. The human-made chemicals do not easily break down under natural conditions and are nearly impossible to destroy, so they can linter permanently in air, water and soil. They also have been shown to build slowly in human bodies over the course of time, and natural processes cannot break them down.

The chemicals have been associated with a higher risk of certain cancers, heart disease, and reproductive issues.

Last spring, the EPA announced levels of two types of PFAS can't exceed four parts per trillion in public drinking water under revised standards.

As a result, updated state PFAS groundwater quality standards were established in April 2025, requiring impacted water systems to notify customers of contamination within five days of an EPA notice, either via mail, email or telephone.

However, IEPA had already began testing the prevalence and occurrence of PFAS in drinking water in 2021, leading some Channahon residents to express concerns about the timing of the new village notice on a social media post.

"Why are we just receiving this information now when reports show you knew about this in 2021?," one user questioned.

Another said, “why wasn't this addressed and fixed when the village found out?”

Community water systems have until April 2029 to comply with the new standards.

State PFAS data is available on the Illinois EPA PFAS Investigation Interactive Dashboard.

In addition to drinking water, IEPA encourages private well owners and residents to be proactive in
addressing potential PFAS contamination. It says ways to reduce exposure include:

• Choose stainless steel, cast iron, or non-stick cookware that does not contain PFAS.
• Avoid water repellents on clothing.
• Use personal care products without “PTFE” or “Fluoro” ingredients.
• Use water filters designed to remove PFAS (NSF/ANSI 53 or 58 standards).