Sen. Muth, Rep. Friel Otten Announce $2.1 Million in PENNVEST Funding for Upper Uwchlan Water Quality Project
Rep. Danielle Friel Otten April 23, 2025 | 12:58 PM
UPPER UWCHLAN, April 23, 2025 – State Senator Katie Muth (D-Chester/Montgomery/Berks) and state Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-Chester) today announced that $2.1 million in funding through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) has been allocated for protection efforts against forever chemicals in the drinking water supply at a well facility in Upper Uwchlan Township.
The funding, approved this morning at a meeting of the PENNVEST Board of Directors, includes a $1.375 million grant and a $724,986 low-interest loan for Aqua Pennsylvania. The project was funded by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) Emerging Contaminants Grant program, which funds PFAS remediation projects through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.
“Allowing permitted industries to continue the widespread use of toxic chemicals that last forever virtually guarantees that our sources of drinking water will become contaminated. That is why PENNVEST funding is so important because it helps fund projects that protect against dangerous PFOS and PFOA chemicals in drinking water supplies,” Sen. Muth said. “It must also be highlighted that if a for-profit, publicly-traded utility provider like Aqua can access $2.1 million in federal and state funding, they should make a more concerted effort to keep rates down and not continue to force repair and acquisition costs onto their ratepayers. It is my hope that funding for similar projects that address water quality, chemical contamination and health impacts are not jeopardized moving forward by the actions being taken in Washington to dismantle programs that protect our environment and take action against climate change.”
Aqua Pennsylvania will utilize the funding to replace both well pumps and install one train of anion exchange treatment vessels with prefiltration at their existing Friendship well facility. This project will minimize the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) chemicals in the finished water via treatment of the existing wells.
“I am pleased to see this project move forward with PENNVEST funding to help ensure the safety of drinking water for more than 400 customers within the Aqua PA Friendship Well service area,” Rep. Otten said. “We all bear the costs of PFOA and PFOS contamination, whether directly through contaminated water or indirectly through public health consequences and environmental impacts. Given the prevalence of these forever chemicals in our drinking water supply, it is imperative that corporate polluters – not taxpayers or utility ratepayers – be held responsible for the ongoing costs of water treatment and environmental remediation.”
PENNVEST is a financing authority that provides low-cost financial assistance to address water, wastewater, stormwater, and non-point source pollution problems that impact public health, safety, the environment, regulatory compliance, and economic development.