In 2024, a Mid-Missouri school district found out its drinking water has harmful chemicals in it. It told parents and began installing new water filters a year later.

Forever chemicals, or PFAS, are a type of man-made chemical that doesn’t break down for a long time. Because of a growing body of scientific evidence on the health effects of these chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency placed regulations on some PFAS, which is an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Water systems have until 2031 to remove certain PFAS from their water, which can cause reproductive effects in pregnant women, developmental delays in children, and increased risk of some cancers.

Some in Missouri, including the South Callaway R-II school district, are starting early. The sch

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