Mucha said there was uncertainty about how to test wastewater for PFAS. But DNR water quality manager Adrian Stocks said the state Laboratory of Hygiene can analyze water, soil or biosolids for PFAS. The DNR was expected this summer to finalize standards for private labs to use.

No matter how much or little PFAS is in sewage from industries in the Madison area, there’s no doubt that much of the water from nine PFAS-tainted city wells is going down drains in homes and businesses to the treatment plant, Powell said.

“Shouldn’t the priority be on assessing how much PFAS is coming into the plant, being released from the plant into waterways and being spread on farmland?” Powell said. “We need this information as soon as possible to assess risks to public and environmental health.”

Tainted sludge in Marinette

One Wisconsin community, Marinette, in the northeast corner of the state, stopped distributing its sludge to farmers after it tested a sewer line coming from a Johnson Controls subsidiary, Tyco Fire Products, which manufactures PFAS-based firefighting foam that has contaminated drinking water.