Guenst and Briggs secure over $15 million to remove PFAs from local wells, water supply
Rep. Nancy Guenst July 16, 2025 | 1:51 PM
HATBORO, July 16 – State Reps. Nancy Guenst and Tim Briggs, D-Montgomery, announced that Aqua Pennsylvania has been awarded $15,235,000 in funding to remove PFAs from the drinking water and improve their wells, tanks and buildings at two Montgomery County water treatment facilities.
This funding will serve to make it easier to eliminate two kinds of PFAs, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate, from southeastern Pennsylvania drinking water. Testing by Aqua Pennsylvania detected PFAs, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in the water at the Cabot Well and Hall Road facilities.
“This funding will be able to benefit both our public health and the health of our infrastructure,” said Guenst. “Aqua Pennsylvania will now be able to stop the emergence of a known contaminant, while also improving their ability to provide clean water to our community.”
“Clean, safe drinking water is a basic necessity, and this funding is a critical step toward protecting the health of our communities,” said Briggs. “I’m pleased to see Aqua Pennsylvania taking action to eliminate harmful PFAs from the Cabot Well and Hall Road facilities. Investments like this will ensure that Upper Merion and the surrounding areas have access to water that meets the highest safety standards.”
The funding will support an $8,235,000 project in Briggs’ district on the Cabot Well in Upper Merion Township, which will see a new stand-alone treatment building and equalization tank, as well as the installation of two trains of granular activated-carbon filter vessels for treatment of these and similar chemicals.
It will also support a $7,000,000 project in Guenst’s district on the Hall Road facility in Abington Township, which will include construction of a treatment building addition, replacement of the well pump, and installation of one train of anion exchange filters with pre-filtration for treatment of these chemicals.
This project will be funded by a $3,506,865 low-interest loan, in addition to an $11,728,135 grant, from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority.
These systems serve 13,800 households, and rates are not expected to rise from this project.
These projects are proposed to begin construction in September with completion in March 2027.