Challenges in Developing a Treatment Solution for PFAS - An Emerging Contaminant

Annual Conference

Per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of emerging contaminants which are present at sites where aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) have been use for firefighting or related training activities. PFAS has been shown to be persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic to some aquatic and land organisms, so there is growing concern and impetus to find a treatment solution for water and soil contamination. The path to finding a treatment solution is complicated by the nature of these chemicals and the concurrent development of our understanding of toxicology, environmental fate and suitable policy.

This paper outlines the challenges confronting the development of a feasible treatment solution for PFAS-impacted wastewater, which were identified and demonstrated during the development and testing of a process for two commercially available products in the treatment of PFAS-impacted firefighting training wastewater. In addition to describing the trial method, results and findings, it discusses the challenges in defining the objectives, designing the trials and dealing with developing understanding during the piloting period.

The two proprietary products trialled, RemBindĀ® and MyCelx™, were included in a pilot-scale treatment process which was developed and deployed to an existing firefighting training ground. The trials were framed in the context of the typical firefighting training site, with irregular contaminant levels, competing contaminants reporting in the wastewater streams and a target residual that was not well defined by regulatory authorities.

The products and processes used in the trials were able to remove at times greater than 99% of PFAS, including the shorter-chain (typically C4) compounds which have not been effectively removed by typical wastewater treatment technologies such as granular activated carbon and reverse osmosis. The trials also demonstrated some of the unique difficulties in design for treatment, sampling and laboratory analysis of this particular group of chemicals and challenges remain in implementing the treatment processes tested on a permanent, full-scale basis.

Conference Papers

11.30 Challenges in Developing a Treatment Solution for Pfas An Emerging Contaminant.pdf

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859 KB
06 Nov 2017

11.30 am N Marquez.pdf

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3 MB
06 Nov 2017