Forever Chemicals
If you are mapping out a move to Virginia and want to understand the water when evaluating an address, you are in the right place. PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, are easy to feel anxious about precisely because they are invisible, so it helps to start with something concrete: the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water oversees the public systems most Virginians rely on, with the broader Department of Environmental Quality watching the wider landscape. The figures below show what monitoring has turned up across the state's larger systems. None of it is a verdict on any single home; it is simply what the records show, laid out so you can read it calmly when evaluating an address.
EPA's UCMR 5 program (2021–2024) tested 44 public water systems in Virginia for 29 PFAS compounds; 0 reported at least one detection and none exceeded the 2024 federal limit of 4 ppt for PFOA/PFOS (a 0% detection rate). Detections vary by water system — check the utility serving a specific Virginia address.
In Virginia, the agency you want to know by name is the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which handles broad environmental oversight, while the drinking water that comes out of a tap is regulated by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) through its Office of Drinking Water. Virginia is largely among the states that lean on the federal limits the agency administers, with VDH stepping into the role the April 2024 EPA rule (4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS) created rather than setting a separately advertised state number. The point worth holding onto: there is a named office that public water systems answer to, not a void.
Numbers below come straight from EPA UCMR 5 monitoring (2021–2024). Every public water system in Virginiaserving more than 3,300 people had to test for 29 different PFAS — here's what they reported.
44
Water systems tested
UCMR 5 (2021–2024)
0
Systems with any PFAS detected
0% detection rate
0
Systems exceeding 2024 MCL
Above 4 ppt PFOA/PFOS
0
Distinct PFAS compounds detected
Of 29 monitored under UCMR 5
0
TRI-reporting PFAS facilities
EPA Toxics Release Inventory 2024
4
DoD PFAS installations
Military PFAS contamination sites
Red triangles are military installations the Department of Defense has flagged for PFAS from firefighting foam. Orange dots are industrial facilities that reported PFAS to the EPA Toxics Release Inventory. If your future home sits near a cluster, that's a conversation worth having with the seller or landlord.
For decades the military trained with AFFF firefighting foam loaded with PFAS. It soaked into soil and groundwater and, in many places, traveled miles. If you're house-hunting near any of these Virginia installations, the address report will tell you exactly how close.
Fort Gregg-Adams (Formerly Fort Lee)
Army
OCEANA VA NAS
Navy
Oceana NAS NALF Fentress
Navy
Vint Hill Farms
Army
Looking at a specific Virginiacity? Each page below pulls the same federal data narrowed to that water system — useful whether you're relocating, buying, organizing your neighborhood around getting cleaner water, or just trying to find out what's in the tap and what's around you.
Here is how to read what the records show without spiraling. The federal monitoring that drives these figures covers a defined slice of the picture: roughly two dozen-plus PFAS compounds, sampled at public systems serving more than about 3,300 people between 2021 and 2024. Private wells and many small rural systems were never required to test, so a quiet entry there is an unknown, not a clean result, and Virginia's Office of Drinking Water can point well owners toward testing guidance. A detection logged in 2022 also is not a guarantee of today's tap. The takeaway is orientation: the figures above are a screening snapshot, not the last word.
Military families reading this deserve a straight answer. Firefighting foam, AFFF, was used for decades at installations to smother fuel fires, and it carries PFAS that can migrate into nearby groundwater long after the last drill. Virginia's long military presence means this history matters here. If installations are listed above, that reflects where the public record has flagged a connection worth understanding, not a judgment on your service or your family's exposure. Treat it as a thread to follow, calmly, with the address report as the next step.
Yes. EPA UCMR 5 monitoring (2021–2024) tested 44 public water systems in Virginia; 0 had at least one PFAS detection. Detections vary by water system — check your specific serving utility.
Virginia largely relies on the federal PFAS drinking-water limits, which the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water administers for public systems. The April 2024 EPA rule sets enforceable limits of 4 ppt for PFOA and PFOS and 10 ppt for PFHxS, PFNA, and GenX, and those are the figures Virginia systems are working toward rather than a separately advertised state number.
Virginia splits the work: the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) addresses PFAS across the broader environment, while drinking water itself falls to the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water. Together they tend to administer the federal framework, with DEQ studying sources and VDH overseeing the public-supply side that most residents drink from.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, is the state's primary environmental agency, covering air, water, and land programs. For drinking water specifically, the Department of Health's Office of Drinking Water is the office that oversees public systems, so PFAS-in-water questions often involve both.
Use VetMyAddress to see the PFAS detections reported for the public water system serving any Virginia address, alongside nearby military bases and industrial PFAS sources. The data comes from EPA UCMR 5, EPA TRI, and the DoD PFAS installation report.
In April 2024 the EPA set the first enforceable federal limits for PFAS in drinking water: 4 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS, and 10 ppt each for PFHxS, PFNA, and HFPO-DA (GenX), plus a Hazard Index for certain mixtures. Public water systems must complete initial monitoring by 2027 and come into compliance after that.
No. The federal limits apply to public water systems. Private well owners are responsible for their own testing and treatment, which is especially worth doing near a known PFAS source like a military base or industrial site.
State numbers tell you the pattern. An address report tells you what's actually in the water at yourkitchen sink — the matched utility, the PFAS detections on file, and every military or industrial source nearby. Whether it's for your family, your neighbors, or peace of mind.
Data sources: EPA UCMR 5 bulk data · EPA TRI 2024 · DoD PFAS installation report