Is There PFAS in Fort Wayne Water?

What PFAS did Fort Wayne test for?

Fort Wayne has tested for the six PFAS in EPA's 2024 drinking water rule: PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS and HFPO-DA (sold as GenX). City Utilities' 2026 water quality report (2025 data) says it has not detected any of the six in drinking water samples "in all our years of testing."

After the 2024 rule, City Utilities also began sampling the St. Joseph River, the city's raw water source. Those river samples have not shown any of the six either, the report says. If you want the background on the river and the Three Rivers Filtration Plant, see where Fort Wayne tap water comes from.

The city also took part in EPA's fifth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule round, called UCMR5. That federal program had water systems test for 29 PFAS plus lithium, so EPA could see where unregulated chemicals show up.

Reports print these results in ppb (parts per billion, the same as µg/L) and ppm (parts per million, mg/L). PFAS figures are so small that most people quote them in ppt, parts per trillion: 1 ppb equals 1,000 ppt.

Which PFAS were found in Fort Wayne water?

Two unregulated PFAS were found in Fort Wayne water during UCMR5: PFHxA and PFPeA. The report's table lists PFHxA at an average of 0.0017 ppb (1.7 ppt, range 0 to 4.1 ppt) and PFPeA at an average of 0.0057 ppb (5.7 ppt, range 4.5 to 8.0 ppt), from samples taken between June 2023 and March 2024.

Neither compound has a federal drinking water limit, and neither is one of the six in the 2024 rule. The report lists them as unregulated, which means there is no legal ceiling to compare them with. Putting them next to the 4.0 ppt limit for PFOA would compare two different chemicals.

Fort Wayne PFAS results at a glance

• 0 of 6regulated PFAS detected in Fort Wayne drinking waterSource: City Utilities 2026 report
• 1.7 pptPFHxA average, UCMR5 (no federal limit)Source: City Utilities 2026 report
• 5.7 pptPFPeA average, UCMR5 (no federal limit)Source: City Utilities 2026 report
• 4.0 pptEPA limit for PFOA and for PFOSSource: EPA

What are the EPA PFAS limits?

EPA's PFAS limits, set in April 2024, are 4.0 ppt each for PFOA and PFOS, 10 ppt each for PFHxS, PFNA and HFPO-DA, and a "hazard index" of 1 for mixtures of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS, according to EPA's PFAS rule page. The health goal for PFOA and PFOS is zero.

The hazard index is a way to add up several PFAS at once: each chemical's level is divided by its own health-based number and the fractions are summed. A sum above 1 would break the rule even if no single chemical crossed its own line.

Do Fort Wayne wells have PFAS?

Fort Wayne itself has no wells: City Utilities draws from the St. Joseph River, and its last small well system near Leo was switched to river water in 2023. Nearby Huntertown does run on wells, and its 2023 water report says UCMR5 sampling in January 2024 found none of the 29 PFAS tested.

Private wells are a gap. They are not regulated by IDEM or EPA, and the Indiana Department of Health well-testing list covers bacteria, nitrate, fluoride, arsenic, lead and copper, not PFAS. This site found no published PFAS results for private wells in Allen County. If you own a well, start with how often to test a well in Allen County and ask a state-certified lab whether it runs a PFAS method before you pay for one.

If you get your water from another town system, such as New Haven, Woodburn or Grabill, read that system's own report: the Fort Wayne results apply only to water from the Three Rivers plant.

Which filters reduce PFAS?

Activated carbon, reverse osmosis and ion exchange resin can all reduce PFAS, EPA's home filter handout says, but only a filter certified for it should be trusted. EPA tells buyers to look for certification to NSF/ANSI 53 or NSF/ANSI 58 for PFAS reduction, and to check the certifier's product directory if in doubt.

As of April 2024, those certifications cover PFOA and PFOS specifically, and EPA notes they do not yet show that a filter brings PFAS down to the new 4.0 ppt limits. The handout also says that if PFAS have been measured below federal limits, "a filter may not be useful to you." On Fort Wayne city water, where none of the regulated six have been detected, a PFAS filter is a personal choice rather than a fix for a measured problem.

If you buy one anyway, look the exact model up in a certifier's listing: NSF, IAPMO R&T and WQA all publish theirs. The listing names each reduction claim. Reverse osmosis and lead-certified filters are covered on their own pages here, and the claims on a box often go further than the listing does.

When will PFAS limits apply?

Water systems have until 2029 to meet the PFAS limits, under the 2024 rule; they also had to start reporting PFAS levels to the public in 2027. On May 18, 2026, EPA announced two proposals: one keeps the PFOA and PFOS limits but lets systems request two more years, to 2031; the other would rescind the limits for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and the hazard index (EPA PFAS rule page).

Those are proposals, not final rules, so check EPA's page for the current status. For Fort Wayne the dates matter less than they do in many cities: the two chemicals that would stay regulated, PFOA and PFOS, have not been detected in the city's water. Each new annual report will show whether that holds; how to read the Fort Wayne water quality report explains where the PFAS rows sit.

Follow-up questions

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