PFAS Treatment

Working to solve the growing global per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination issue with tailored PFAS treatment designs, creating highly efficient and effective co-contaminant pre-treatment removal.

Litres of PFAS contaminated water treated

Australian Sites

%

PFAS Removal

What is PFAS?

PFAS stands for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, which are a group of man-made chemicals that have been used in various industrial and consumer products. They are known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment and potential to bioaccumulate in humans and animals. Recent studies have linked PFAS to adverse health effects such as cancer.

PFAS is highly soluble and mobile, which means it can easily migrate long distances into groundwater and surface water, making its way into rivers through rainwater runoff. Humans can be exposed to PFAS through a range of different pathways such as contaminated drinking water and food consumption.

The PFAS group is an emerging contaminant of concern, and regulatory bodies around the world are conducting extensive research and investigations on their impact.

scidev-fiskville-pfas-remediation-site

PFAS Treatment Strategy

Every PFAS treatment project is unique, and presents its own set of challenges and variables. These variables include the molecular make-up of the total PFAS concentration, the presence of co-contaminants, the receiving environment, applicable regulatory compliance, the current waste disposal market, the client’s budget, and site and time constraints.

At SciDev, we use ion-exchange resins as part of a multi-stage treatment plan to effectively treat PFAS-affected water so that it can be safely discharged back into the environment. Ion exchange is a process that uses resin beads to exchange ions with dissolved contaminants, such as PFAS, in water. The resin beads have functional groups that can selectively bind to PFAS molecules and remove them from the water stream.

Depending on the water quality and the PFAS composition, ion exchange can be used as a standalone or complementary technology to activated carbon. The main advantages of ion exchange are its high capacity, selectivity, and regeneration potential for PFAS removal.

 

PFAS Treatment Technology

SciDev’s FluorofIX™ technology is the only commercially available solution that can treat large volumes of highly contaminated water to below the limit of reporting of 0.00023ug/l and generate waste volumes of less than 0.001%.

FluorofIX™ is highly effective at removing the full profile of long-chain and short-chain PFAS molecules, whereas other solutions currently target long-chain PFAS molecules only. A multibarrier, sustainable and economical solution for the treatment of PFAS compounds, FluorofIX™ uses Anion Ion Exchange technology to remove PFAS effectively and efficiently from contaminated water, eliminating the risk of contaminant breakthroughs and minimising byproduct waste generation.

RegenIX™ is SciDev’s ion exchange resin regeneration technology, which is integrated into all of our treatment system designs delivering treated water with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) levels below the lowest limits of reporting.

READ MORE ON PFAS RELATED PROJECTS AND ARTICLES