Who We Meet Along the Way: Calhoun: Water Matters

Community Spotlight: Calhoun: Water Matters, Calhoun, Georgia

Cyclopure provides water testing and filtration for PFAS using DEXSORB®, often crossing paths with individuals and organizations who share our concern about the safety of water. From these interactions, an idea was born for a blog series highlighting the work of folks who use our products to remediate PFAS contamination in their communities.

We’re starting off this series with an interview with the co-founder of Calhoun: Water Matters, Hartwell Brooks, who spoke with me over video call back in January. While Mr. Brooks currently works as a public-school teacher in Brooklyn, NY, his connection to Calhoun stretches back generations. The Brooks family still resides at what is known as “Ground Zero” of Gordon County’s PFAS-contamination. Mr. Brooks’ background in anthropology urged him to get involved in community health through advocacy work, and with Kim Chapman, a Calhoun-native, he started Calhoun: Water Matters in March 2024. Since its inception, the group has amassed 1.8K members.

Scroll through the page and find posts sharing PFAS-free floss brands, acceptances to Emory University’s PFAS blood test study, water-filtration system recommendations, PFAS test results, articles on PFAS from across the Unites States, holiday wishes, questions and answers. The administrators share posts almost daily and group members are equally as active, seeking information and writing posts concerning the matter. CWM (Calhoun: Water Matters) is a diverse online community of individuals brought together by an environmental crisis.

CWM’s first initiative was an email template sent out by around 80 members to Erin Brokovich. The aim was to get the word out about the uncovered PFAS pollution from local industrial manufacturers. As a result, Erin Brokovich published the letter in her Substack. Brokovich now makes regular town hall appearances throughout the county.

Another project, “Neighbor Helping Neighbor,” coordinated donations and water tests, increasing the accessibility of materials to members across the group. It allowed CWM to gather a substantial amount of data, targeting specific areas around Gordon County for a broader sample. Kim Chapman generated an interactive map from the results, giving the community a better sense of the PFAS spread. A key discovery from this initiative uncovered contamination along the Mauldin Line which supplies water to local public schools. Mr. Brooks informed me that the results prompted schools to provide filtered water to their students and staff.

What’s next for Calhoun: Water Matters? Mr. Brooks shared that the group administrators will continue in their advocacy work. “More people are aware [about PFAS] than they were a year ago,” he mentioned over the call. Spreading awareness has been, and continues to be, the top priority.