Jim Walker lives in French Island, Wisconsin, where PFAS contamination has become widespread. Citizens living in this region have been provided with bottled water, but their lives are irreparably changed. Walker recounts the fear of living with hazardous chemicals in his family’s water supply. He described his feelings with experience to NBC Chicago as “frustration” and “helplessness”. Everyday tasks stopped being instinctual, and his family would have to wait for water deliveries every few weeks.
Walker describes the difficulty in adjusting his lifestyle, noting that he sometimes still reaches for the faucet. The lives of the Walkers are forever changed by the contamination of their well. The property value of their home has plummeted, and it is impossible for the family to leave the contaminated site. As decontaminating PFAS from water sources takes so long, it is unlikely that the Walkers will ever see their water restored.