Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been seeping into the natural world and drinking water sources since they were mass-produced for daily consumer and industrial applications.

Water utility managers and operators need to plan for and finance new treatment systems while also keeping up with changing legislation, educating themselves on PFAS, and developing trust with the communities they serve. Thus, PFAS treatment and cleanup costs are a popular subject among academics, utilities, regulators, and public health and environmental campaigners in the United States, particularly at water and environmental conferences.

We will discuss some of the innovative methods that PFAS are being treated in this blog. Ion exchange resins, Granular Activated Carbon adsorption, and low-pressure reverse osmosis membrane treatment procedures are examples of PFAS treatment techniques.

Ion Exchange

An ion exchange (IX) system replaces undesirable charged pollutants in the feedwater with inert substances such as sodium and hydrogen in cation resins and chloride and hydroxide in anionic resins. Contaminated water passes through a bed of media that functions similarly to a filter.

Depending on the flowrate, PFAS content, and the presence of competing anions like sulfates and nitrates, ion exchange resins that remove PFAS in drinking water applications are usually highly selective, single-use resins that survive for 6–18 months on average. Both long- and short-chain PFAS may be effectively removed using these extremely selective long-life resins.

IX systems have the potential to foul before PFAS depletion or breakout because of their extended resin service life. To be more precise, certain IX resins degrade when exposed to oxidants like chlorine.

Granular Activated Carbon

Granular activated carbon (GAC) may adsorb dissolved species like PFAS when employed in a filter because of its pore structure, which produces an extensive surface area per pound of carbon source.

The quality of the source water and the existence of co-contaminants such organic matter along with additional trace pollutants determine how effective GAC is at removing PFAS.A wide range of volatile and synthetic organics, such as insecticides, solvents, and hydrophobic long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), particularly perfluorinated sulfonates like PFOS, may be effectively treated with GAC. However, GAC is often less successful in removing PFAAs with shorter chains, including perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA).

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO) and nano-filtration are two membrane separation techniques that may successfully remove every PFAS found in tested drinking water from affected sources.

High-quality finished water is produced in these applications by forcing the feed water through a semi-permeable membrane at a high pressure (the precise pressure varies depending on the application). With low-pressure RO (LPRO), it is possible to remove PFAS, especially short-chained PFAS, to an excellent degree.

Conclusion

Research and development initiatives are coming up with innovative solutions, and brilliant scientists are assessing innovative methods to isolate and then eliminate PFAS without producing hazardous byproducts.

Technologies for destroying PFAS have recently been effectively demonstrated at the bench-scale. This comprises high-energy electron beam, photolysis, hydrothermal alkaline treatment, and radiolysis, among others. Moreover, the effective pilot-scale destruction of PFAS has been proven by the use of electrochemical oxidation, supercritical water oxidation, plasma, UV-hydrated electron, and sonochemical methods.

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