Submitted by Illustrious-Study237 t3_124ulaj in newhampshire
I’ve been reading on this subreddit and the internet in general about water quality issues in Merrimack. I recently moved here (few months ago). Should I be concerned about the water coming into my rented apartment?
This is a clear and concise answer.
Merrimack public water - continually tested and filtration systems in place. All town wells have been upgraded to meet EPA standards (including the recent more updated EPA thresholds).
Private wells - some homeowners have gotten wells tested and added filtration systems. Case by case basis only. Without test results, assume the water is unsafe for consumption.
when we moved into our house (in bedford) we asked for a PFAS report, which the previous owners had recent documentation. We were told our water is good to drink with our fridge water filter.
A water filter on the fridge wouldn’t do anything if the well was contaminated with PFOA/PFAS.
yes I know, the well water at our home was tested in late 2020 for PFAS and was negative. There is a PFAS sampling map for around the contaminated area. Ours was not tested by the state, but you can get a test yourself (it’s expensive, and takes a long time). Furthermore, none of the houses closest to us that were tested by the state for PFAS were contaminated.
I’m not saying things can’t change, water flows but I also don’t trust bottled water, it sits in plastic and not actually that well regulated (including PFAS). Plus its wasteful. you do you, but unfortunately with the way things are, there isn’t a perfect solution.
adding to note that I have heard good things about RO systems.
Unfortunately if you live in Merrimack County or Hillsborough County and you don’t have an RO filter on your incoming well water; you really oughta think about getting one. Or else drink spring water from a protected aquifer.
Buying a house with a well in Hillsborough County and the water test came back with no issues whatsoever; everything was either incredibly low and the really bad stuff was not detected. It’s also very soft water, which will be something new for us as everywhere we’ve lived across the country and overseas had varying levels of hard water, to include Arizona where I swear the water came out of the tap as mineralized chunks with some water embedded in them (exaggeration, but not by much!). We’re still planning on putting an RO filter on it as an extra safety measure just to avoid any potential issues.
It’s been recommended by everyone (the water testing company was silent on the issue) that we still get our water tested annually even though our test came back with the same results as the current owner’s test in 2016.
Just making sure you (or other people reading this) already know this — PFAS/PFOA is not tested for in a standard water test, it’s a separate (ofc more expensive) test.
How can I find out information about the water source?
Ewg.org
It's not just Merrimack anymore. Got a letter the other day saying Amherst and Hollis now have to get tested if on a well.
Bedford has been contaminated as well
Yep! The north part of Amherst and Bedford was found I want to say over a year ago. They must have just tested the southern section on Amherst where I am and now there's pfas. Luckily I'm on town water and I only drink from filtered water.
Same with parts of Londonderry. The wind has also blown this stuff into soil.
Newington has been down for a while, it’s probably spread from there as well
Newington would probably be related to Pease, not Gobain
What are they getting contaminated with? Curious if I should make sure my parents know
PFAS. My understanding is it comes from saint gobain dumping chemicals onto the ground in Merrimack.
Supposedly not actively dumping anymore, but they did over a period of like 50 years.
They got caught again last year I think. Trying to remember when I read the article. Greased a few palms and nothing came from it.
Got any proof of that 'greasing?'
Its a solvent based stitchery sealant that is evaporated and exhausted via air stack.
If you have teflon coated pots or pans, scotch guarded furniture or have ever seal a tent seam, you've dealt with those chemicals in high concentration.
The St Gobain operation made massive tents and tent like panels for places like the Denver International Airport and the structures around Mecca during the Saudi large pilgrimage periods.
None is 'dumped on the ground.'
[deleted]
Merrimack's groundwater is contaminated with PFAS thanks to Saint-Gobain.
Wow. I did some contracting work there. They have massive ovens, 3 or 4 storys high, used to create they're so called "performance plastics" if I remember correctly there were six big ovens and four smaller ones. A couple of them had radiation caution signs on them. I painted a few of those ovens. Terrible work environment, I'll never forgot that smell and if someone cought you on your phone, whoever reported it would get a little bonus. They make Kevlar there as well. They also make those domes that cover satellites, and they have contracts with the military. When I was there they were making emergency pop-up shelters, almost similar to how a bounce house blows up, but these were airtight and equipped with air scrubbers for gas attacks.
Sounds like an interesting place but a shit company and work environment
The radiation detectors are for them to monitor the thickness of the fabric being run.
Wherever you work, stay off your phone.
They don't make kevlar there. They stitch rolls of it together into their products.
It’s worth planning on being on bottled water, especially for kids and small animals, or getting a filtration system rated for PFAS.
A filtration system is the superior option in every possible way
Bottled water is expensive, environmentally wasteful, and contaminated with micro plastics
All of that is true, but the science is out on whether PFAS can be filtered at all.
OK sure but the bottled water companies are pulling from the same contaminated sources as private wells
If you’re drinking PFAS water either way, might as well get it for free!
Follow on question..it is confirmed the town water is now all treated and perfectly fine for drinking and cooking correct?
I don’t believe so, my parents live there and have for 20+ years. They refuse to drink any tap, and only buy water now for themselves and the dogs/cat
I was under the impression they had finally implemented the treatment equipment to all incoming water, but am not confident enough in my ability to read the reports to be sure...
I appreciate the response but sounds like you don't really know (not meaning any offense there), the water was certainly not good for a while but it might be ok now is my understanding, hoping someone knows the state and understands the reports
I hear ya, no offense taken, I really don’t know for sure lol. We just play it safe for now, i’ll be following this thread to see if someone with more expertise can comment though.
Go to the Merrimack Water District website. They explain what they're doing in good detail. They've been cycling activated carbon washing for a couple years now.
Last year, they ran a warrant to expand that capacity.
The water is lime softened and a little 'chloriny' to my taste, but it's perfectly safe...
Yes, contrary to the other comments, the public water supply in Merrimack is safe to drink. Like you, I also called the water quality director and they kindly gave me a run down of all the upgrades that have been done (the final upgrade went live in October 2022 IIRC).
The new systems are also under the updated EPA thresholds, so Merrimack happens to be ahead of the curve in that regard.
Whether people ‘believe’ it’s safe is a separate question. I encourage anyone to call in or personally visit the town water facilities to receive education on the subject.
Lol no
I just called and they confirmed they got the last treatment station up and running and it's all safe to drink.. I guess whether you trust that or not is another story
Trust is a very fragile thing…
I tend to trust reviewed/controlled reports and large scale very public remediation efforts all visible by third parties without an agenda, but I certainly understand the hesitation and skeptics
For what it's worth most people on here are talking about well water that could very well be bad. For public town water like you most likely have, it seems you should be all set to drink it
To be fair New Hampshire’s water has a bunch of arsenic in it that is naturally occurring, we have a pretty high rate of bladder cancer. I also think there’s radon in areas but I can’t remember where. So it’s not like Merrimack is the only bad water, it’s not like we only have to worry about the PFOAs, get a good filter to take care of the arsenic as well
Radon is an issue in most of NH I believe. I'm in southern NH and have radon in the air and water, I have mitigation systems for both.
Both Rn and As for those who draw their well water from a granite aquifer, or whose foundation rests ON granite.
Yep. Its part of the mineralogy
Yes.
The only people who should be drinking the water in Merrimack should be the family members of Saint Gobain management who poisoned the water and then.lied about it.
All updated literature says that town water is “safe” to drink but when I open my taps in the morning the bleach smell is so strong it makes me sick.
Berkey filter helps a lot though!
I've lived in Merrimack for the past 7 years. We filtered the water initially and now get 5 gallon bottles delivered.
Where do you order it from? What brand?
Ready Refresh is the company. Most of my neighbors use them as well. It's all Poland Springs water.
Poland Springs is trash and isn't even from a spring anymore... Hasn't been in decades. We had Monadnock Mountain spring water delivery when we lived there.
We have lived in Merrimack for about 9 months (just 3 minutes away from Saint Gobain) and we’ve been using bottled water for us and our dog since we got here just as a precaution. We use it for everything including cooking. I feel safer that way since I don’t know for sure and I’d rather buy water than take any chances.
Best way to be sure is to test the water. Testing for some things can get a little expensive, but could pay off long term if it saves on bottled water or extra filtration. Sampling is easy to do yourself, and the testing lab will provide bottles and instructions. I use ChemServe in Milford and would recommend them.
You have to decide what you’re willing to live with and act accordingly. New information comes out regularly on how bad these chemicals are for our bodies. It’s infuriating how St. Gobain is getting away with poisoning us all.
Even the treated city water in Merrimack is no good. My family and I lived there for a year and there is so much chlorine in the water it kills your hair (smells like chlorine anyway) You can try to charcoal filter it but make sure you do the shower heads too ... change filters often. My daughter's hair actually lost curls from that water... Definitely need a whole home RO system there.
Merrimack had a lawsuit in place that stipulate pennichuck handle all drinking water as far as I understand. We don’t have that luxury across the river, though we do all still have no option but to use them.
Pennichuck as in Nashua’s water treatment facility?
They’re based in Nashua yes
What the fuck? Y’all got me scared, I didn’t know it was that bad. This is giving Flint vibes!!
If the water is municipally supplied, then there are reports available about water quality testing. You might want to call your public works department on how to get one of these reports.
Note though, that this testing likely is at the treatment facility, and maybe at some points along the distribution network. It's possible (but unlikely) there could be some "midstream" intrusions affecting water quality at your faucet.
If your water is supplied by Pennichuck, get it tested as well. AFAIK, Pennichuck doesn't test their water! It's up to the recipient to test.
We use Granite State Analytical in Derry does a great job for us. Get it tested now and in the Fall so you have a baseline. Then once a year.
Do not drink it and definitely do not give it to children. It has chemicals in it so boiling it makes it worse because then you can dance it by evaporating water from it.
You look into any recent developments?
Yes, be very concerned. I was on Fox25 Boston news years ago talking about it. We moved out of town after 8 years of weird health issues.
Most places are still putting fluoride in water, which at one point was thought to be beneficial for teeth, but has since been proven it doesn't have any benefits to teeth health except while at a very young age, and even then, too much actually causes the exact thing it is supposed to prevent; enamel decay. Buy a ZeroWater purification device, may not remove everything, but still better than drinking from the tap.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/fluoridated-drinking-water/
sweetnsalty24 t1_je0wgz2 wrote
I'd be concerned if it's coming from a well that doesn't have filters in place and hasn't been tested.