PFAS Regulations are on the Move in the Dairy State

I have been following PFOA/PFOS quite closely for the last 7 years and not much has happened since the movie Dark Waters premiered back in 2019.

Dark Waters is about PFAS, specifically focusing on the contamination caused by the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont. The film dramatizes the legal battle led by Robert Bilott against DuPont for polluting a town with unregulated chemicals, including PFOA, a type of PFAS (source Wikipedia)

I was one of the guest speakers for Association of Water Technologists (AWT) that put on PFAS/PFOA webinar back in September of 2023.  It was the most viewed webinar for 2023 because everyone was unsure of what the future holds. 

“Fast forward”, November of 2025, I met with a customer in SE Wisconsin who had just been asked by their publicly owned treatment works (POTW) to test their effluent for PFAS compounds.  I asked my contact what the POTW said about the proposed PFOS wastewater limit for surface water and he said, 8 ppt.  I thought this number was lower than I had anticipated. To put things in perspective, that was closer to the state of Michigan drinking water standard versus a surface water standard.   

Wisconsin uses a different methodology to develop public health-based criteria for PFOS and PFOA compared to Michigan, which relies on narrative criteria prohibiting toxic substances in surface waters. This difference reflects the states’ varying approaches to addressing PFAS contamination and public health concerns. (source WDNR)

The PFAS testing is still expensive and there aren’t many labs that have the triple quad mass spec equipment necessary to measure down to ppt levels.  If you need guidance, we’ve worked with Badger Labs in the past but there are others that offer this service. 

The bottom line if you haven’t already been asked by your POTW, you should be prepared to receive a request to sample and submit results for the 40 PFOS/PFOA compounds.  State regulatory agencies are still in the process of coming up with limits on these fluorinated compounds and so let’s do our best to help them come up with practical solutions.

Check out www.epa.gov for all of the latest information.

Upcoming Training

If you are interested in learning about biological wastewater treatment options, join us on September 16, 2026 as we discuss some of the biggest challenges associated with industrial wastewater treatment. We will share information on how we can rely on organisms to assist in environmental cleanup. You can register at: Biological Wastewater Training.

Chris Fox 
Director of Wastewater
Chris has spent the last 25+ years in the water and wastewater treatment industry. A former equity partner and small business owner, he has held positions in sales, sales management, marketing, and business development for both global and regional companies. He received his bachelor’s from St. Norbert College in both Environmental Science and Biology.