🔒CT Water receives $7.6M in PFAS contamination settlements; faces $190M in treatment costs

Connecticut Water Co. has received $7.6 million from manufacturers of "forever chemicals" as part of a massive nationwide lawsuit, its parent company, California-based H2O America, disclosed in its third-quarter earnings report filed last week. The Clinton-based utility has received nearly $6.5 million from 3M Co. and $1.15 million from DuPont this year, with additional payments expected over the next nine years, "We pursued legal action against PFAS manufacturers in a class action lawsuit to hold PFAS manufacturers accountable and contribute toward the cost of addressing PFAS contamination that customers will ultimately pay through their water bills," Connecticut Water said in a statement. The company said it is "in the process of putting together a plan to address how to best pass the benefit of those funds on to our customers," but noted that any rate changes require approval from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. Connecticut Water plans to invest $190 million to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations for drinking water over the next several years. In 2024, the EPA established the first-ever nationwide, legally enforceable drinking water standards for PFAS. The rule requires public water systems to implement solutions by 2029. Connecticut Water serves about 105,000 customers — representing roughly 360,000 people — across 60 communities. The utility said it is "on track to meet the new PFAS standards for drinking water by the EPA's deadline to remain in compliance with all drinking water standards." The utility operates 235 active wells and 18 surface water supplies, with groundwater accounting for approximately 72% of its daily water demand. PFAS chemicals, nicknamed "forever chemicals" because they don't break down in the environment, were widely used in aqueous film-forming foam for fighting petroleum fires at airports, military bases and fire training facilities. The foam released PFAS compounds that migrated through soil into groundwater supplies. Connecticut Water began voluntarily testing its water systems for PFAS in late 2019. The utility filed suit in October 2021 in Hartford Superior Court against more than two dozen manufacturers. The case was transferred to federal court the following month and consolidated into the massive Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation pending in South Carolina. According to the utility's complaint, the manufacturers knew — or should have known — as early as the 1970s that PFAS chemicals were toxic, highly mobile in water, persistent in the environment and posed significant risks to human health. The EPA has linked PFAS exposure to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid problems, immune system effects and other health conditions. H2O America, which changed its name from SJW Group in May 2025, also operates San Jose Water Co. in California and Maine Water Co., both of which are receiving settlement payments. San Jose Water has received $14.5 million from the settlements, while Maine Water received $178,000, according to the filing. The parent company reported strong financial performance, with net income up 17% in the third quarter and 22% for the first nine months of 2025 compared to the prior year, driven by rate increases in California and Connecticut. Connecticut Water is also a defendant — along with Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Co. — in a separate October 2023 putative class action lawsuit filed in Connecticut Superior Court by customers alleging the utility provided contaminated water. The utilities have said they intend to vigorously defend themselves.