The Orange County Sanitation District (OC San) is proud to announce that it is the first municipal wastewater laboratory in the state of California accredited to test for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater and is one of 10 labs in California accredited to test for PFAS in wastewater (the other nine are commercial labs).

PFAS are a group of thousands of manmade chemicals used to make items with properties that are non-stick and/or resistant to water, oil, and stains. They are also used in several industrial processes and firefighting activities.

OC San operates a state-of-the-art Environmental Sciences Laboratory conducting over 100,000 lab analyses per year. OC San is accredited by the California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program and became the first public agency to receive national accreditation through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (NELAP) in 2017.

As a wastewater agency, OC San is a passive recipient of PFAS. Through source control and laboratory testing, OC San will continue to monitor for PFAS, and help ensure that we continue to provide highly treated wastewater to the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS), a joint project with OC San and the Orange County Water District (OCWD). Currently, the GWRS produces up to 100 million gallons a day (MGD) of purified water for residents of Orange County. This is enough new water for nearly 850,000 residents in north and central Orange County. OC San and OCWD are working to meet the future needs of GWRS through the GWRS Final Expansion project. When complete the project will provide enough water for 1 million residents in north and central Orange County.

“This accreditation reflects OC San’s ongoing commitment to protect public health and the environment,” said Lan Wiborg, Director of Environmental Services. “Our staff will continue to address PFAS through monitoring and testing in our service area. We are very proud of all the work we’ve done to bring this issue to the forefront.”