Available and emerging liquid treatment technologies for PFASs

Abstract

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are present at a wide range of private sector facilities and United States (US) government installations, including those operated by the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronauts and Space Administration, and other entities, as well as additional sites worldwide. Impacts have been identified in a range of environmental media including drinking water, groundwater, surface water, leachate, wastewater, soil, sediment, and soil gas. Treatment technologies to remove or destroy PFASs cost effectively have proven to be elusive to the industry. However, recent developments are bringing that goal close to reality for some media. This article has been prepared to address only liquid treatment technologies. Soil treatment technologies are presently a lower priority and may be addressed in future articles. The challenge of identifying and evaluating available and emerging liquid treatment technologies was put to the PFAS Experts Symposium in Houston, Texas, on June 7–8, 2023, which was attended by PFAS professionals and subject matter experts with a broad range of backgrounds. The discussions covered a variety of technical approaches and led to the preparation of this manuscript. This article strives to concisely summarize modern technical approaches that are potentially applicable to managing liquid media at PFAS-impacted sites. Currently, ex situ sorbent technologies using granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX) resin are commercially available and most widely used. Other liquid technologies are summarized and current applications are presented to allow the reader to evaluate each technology for their particular use. This article is not intended to provide guidance on site-specific design of treatment systems, but instead to serve as an update to earlier articles from this group and others addressing PFAS treatment technologies and related PFAS topics.