In Franklin County, Missouri, the Washington public water system draws from groundwater sources to serve more than 14,000 residents. This system pipes treated water through over 7,000 service connections, bringing water to your tap daily. Understanding the presence and behavior of substances like 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) in this water is important for homeowners considering treatment steps.
If you wonder why 1,2,3-trichloropropane resists air stripping and its effect on treatment options
1,2,3-TCP is a chlorinated solvent notable for its resistance to removal by air stripping, a process where volatile compounds are transferred from water to air. Because TCP molecules do not easily volatilize, air stripping methods that work well for some contaminants are ineffective here, pushing homeowners toward other treatment technologies that target this stubborn compound directly.
If you want to understand how granular activated carbon contact time impacts 1,2,3-trichloropropane treatment
Treatment of TCP often involves granular activated carbon (GAC). Unlike taste-affecting elements, where shallow carbon beds might suffice, the depth and contact time of the carbon bed are critical when addressing TCP. A sufficiently deep carbon bed ensures enough interaction between water and carbon to capture trace levels of TCP commonly measured in micrograms per liter (µg/L or parts per billion). For households, systems designed with adequate bed depth provide greater confidence that the chlorinated solvent is effectively adsorbed.
If you notice certain household water characteristics and wonder if TCP is responsible
1,2,3-trichloropropane itself is colorless, odorless, and tasteless at low levels and does not cause common household water issues such as staining, cloudiness, or unusual taste. Symptoms such as these generally point to other water quality factors and not to TCP. To identify the presence and concentration of TCP in your specific water supply, laboratory testing of your water is essential, since area-wide data cannot determine individual well or tap water conditions.
If you need to understand how TCP enters local groundwater or the water distribution system in Franklin County
Regional historical uses of soil fumigants and industrial solvents have contributed to the presence of TCP in groundwater in various parts of the U.S. For the Washington public water system, which uses groundwater, low-level detections of 1,2,3-TCP have been found during federal occurrence surveys. These detections likely relate to legacy contamination leaching into aquifers over time. The system’s water treatment processes address multiple contaminants to provide water meeting health-based standards.
If you want to interpret what 'detected', 'median', and 'range' mean in the local sampling record
The EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3) monitoring from 2013 to 2015 for this water system showed no detections of 1,2,3-TCP above the reporting level of 0.03 micrograms per liter (µg/L). This means that in 18 samples, the chlorinated solvent was either absent or present below this minimum level detectable by the EPA’s testing method. A 'detected' result means the presence was measurable, not necessarily harmful, and 'median' and 'range' describe the statistical summary of those measurements across samples, not conditions at any single tap.
What you should not conclude from area data
Data from the Washington public water system provide a snapshot of water quality at the system-wide level and do not specify contamination levels in individual household water. Because no federal maximum contaminant level (MCL) exists for 1,2,3-TCP, and no detections exceeded reporting levels in this record, this does not imply any home’s water contains or lacks this compound beyond what laboratory analysis can confirm. Testing your own water supply is the only way to establish your household’s exact 1,2,3-TCP concentration.
For households in Franklin County seeking a direct approach to addressing concerns about 1,2,3-trichloropropane, the Pentair 1,2,3-TCP Filter ships ready to configure and offers treatment technology specifically designed to reduce this chlorinated solvent. This system is engineered to provide effective adsorption of trace-level TCP through optimized carbon contact time, giving homeowners a practical tool when lab results indicate TCP presence in their water.
Where this information comes from
Source: EPA SDWIS public water system record. Sampled 2013-10-01. These figures describe the public water system's record, not the plumbing inside any individual building.
On record: EPA UCMR3 monitoring (2013-2015) for Washington (MO6010838), MO: 18 results across 1 listed contaminants, 0 detections above the reporting level; nothing detected above the method reporting level