Updated May 2026 · Wicked Pure Water Co
PFAS have become one of the most talked-about water quality issues in New Hampshire, and for good reason. The state has been at the center of the national conversation about these chemicals for over a decade. If you are a New Hampshire homeowner, understanding what PFAS are and whether they affect your water is worth a few minutes of your time.
What PFAS actually are
PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a large family of synthetic chemicals manufactured since the mid-twentieth century. They were used to make products resist heat, grease, stains, and water, showing up in everything from non-stick cookware to firefighting foam. Their defining feature is also the problem: the chemical bonds that make them so durable mean they do not break down naturally in the environment or in the human body. That is why they are widely known as forever chemicals.
Why New Hampshire has a PFAS problem
New Hampshire's PFAS story centers on a few well-documented sites. The most prominent is the former Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics facility in Merrimack, where PFAS released over years of operation contaminated groundwater across Merrimack, Litchfield, Bedford, and Londonderry. The other major site is the former Pease Air Force Base in the Seacoast, where decades of firefighting foam use led to one of the earliest high-profile PFAS contamination cases in the country. Beyond these hotspots, low-level PFAS findings have turned up in private and public water supplies across the state, which is why testing is now part of a responsible baseline almost anywhere in New Hampshire.
What the health concern is
Research has linked PFAS exposure to a range of health effects, including effects on the immune system, cholesterol levels, thyroid function, and certain cancers, as well as developmental effects in infants and children. As with arsenic, the concern is long-term exposure rather than a single glass of water. And as with arsenic, PFAS are invisible and tasteless, so a test is the only way to know.
New Hampshire's PFAS standards and the state rebate
New Hampshire was one of the first states in the country to set its own enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water, adopting standards for four specific PFAS compounds in 2020, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency later followed with national limits of its own. For homeowners, the most important practical point is this: if your private well tests above the state PFAS thresholds and you install a qualifying treatment system, New Hampshire can reimburse up to $5,000. Income-qualified households may have the state pay the installer directly, meaning little to nothing out of pocket. Our rebate page walks through the eligibility details.
How PFAS is removed from water
PFAS are treatable with the right system. The two proven approaches for home treatment are granular activated carbon and anion exchange resin, and the most reliable whole-home systems often use them in stages to drive PFAS down to non-detect. For drinking water at a single tap, a reverse osmosis system is also highly effective against PFAS. As with every other contaminant, the correct system depends on your specific test results, including which PFAS compounds are present and at what levels.
PFAS can feel alarming, partly because the phrase forever chemicals is genuinely unsettling. But in practical terms, PFAS in well water is a known, testable, and treatable problem, and in New Hampshire there is financial help available to fix it. The first step is a test that tells you whether you have a problem at all.