Dr. Charles Humphrey received funding from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS), Division of Public Health (DPH) for his research study titled, “Serving the Underserved: Addressing PFAS and Other Contaminants in Septic Systems and Private Drinking Water Wells”. Dr. Humphrey serves as the Principal Investigator (PI), and Dr. Guy Iverson (EH faculty) and Dr. Eli Hvastkovs  (ECU Department of Chemistry) serve as the co-PIs. Their team will be working in Bladen, Robeson and Cumberland Counties in communities that use septic systems and private wells. They will collect wastewater samples from the septic tanks and groundwater samples from the wells, with the aim of sampling between 18 and 24 tanks and wells, to determine the concentrations of PFOS and PFOA as contaminants. The samples will also be analyzed for E. coli and nitrate. They will evaluate the condition of the septic systems, analyze the quality of water in the wells and make recommendations (if needed) to improve the function of their septic systems.