PFAS in drinking water: Tackling forever chemicals head on
PFAS (Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), otherwise known as ‘forever chemicals’, are causing big problems for the drinking water industry.
Their widespread contamination from industrial sources, links to health issues, and the sheer difficulty of removing them from water make them the industry’s hottest topic. But this isn’t just a passing trend. It’s an issue set to monopolise conversations for a long time to come.
The Netherlands currently follows strict RIVM guidelines about the concentration of PFAS allowed in drinking water. These guidelines advise a value of 4,4 ng/l PFOA-equivalent, which is far below the legal EU directive.
However, as research continues and the toxicological effects of PFAS are still being studied, the needle is likely to move on legislation as more is known.
What’s clear is that tackling the issue is of the utmost importance. And it’s vital for companies to act now. But in an uncertain landscape it can be difficult to know exactly what action to take.
The most important consideration, amidst such uncertainty, is to be flexible and adaptable. Water companies must understand where PFAS come from, what treatment options are available, how legislation may change, and where the best investments can be made.
Measurement and molecules – what makes PFAS so challenging?
There are a number of challenges for water companies tackling PFAS.One of the biggest is measuring PFAS to begin with. These chemicals comprise over 10,000 different compounds. But current analytical methods detect only a fraction of them, which can make it difficult to gain an accurate picture.
A second issue is that some PFAS are more problematic than others.
TFA (or Trifluoroacetic Acid, the smallest PFAS molecule) is the most mobile, persistent, and present in drinking water due to multiple contamination sources.
In groundwater alone, this molecule can comprise up to 69% of the 4,4 ng/l PFOA-equivalent threshold. And roughly two-thirds of the Netherlands’ drinking water companies use groundwater as a source for production.
This presents a dual difficulty; something that’s hard to detect and even harder to get rid of. But the challenges don’t stop there.
One way or another, drinking water companies will need to make significant investments to tackle this issue. But they must do so while keeping water affordable to the public.
The question then, is what technologies can water companies adopt to tackle this issue? Those currently being developed are not yet economically or environmental feasible. And it will take years before they are.
This leaves two options…
Carbon treatment or membrane filtration?
There are currently two workable methods for removing PFAS from drinking water.
Activated carbon treatment can physically remove PFAS from the environment, but it does have a significant impact on CO2 emissions as coal needs to be heated to up to 1200 degrees to destroy chemicals prior to re-use.
Applying activated carbon filtration to that waste stream could adequately remove PFAS, but shorter PFAS chains will remain. (You can read more about treating PFAS in wastewater, here.)
Our approach is tailored depending on the water sources our clients use. But there are no sources that are free of these chemicals, whether its groundwater or dune water, which often contains PFAS from sea foam.
In addition, our drinking water advisory group collaborates with sustainability, permitting, and brine management experts to provide a holistic approach to your challenges.
By taking these factors into consideration, as well as budgetary constraints and emerging legislation, we help companies make evidence-based decisions and plot the best route to PFAS-proofing their plants.
Driving the future of PFAS treatment
The drinking water industry desperately needs an economically viable method to fully remove PFAS – but companies can’t wait until that exists to act.Even if PFAS contamination is tackled at source, it will still take decades to remove the remaining concentrations from our water cycle. So the solution to this problem must be both short and long term – and the work should start now.
At Haskoning, we’ll continue to combine technical, economic, environmental, and legislative expertise to help our clients make the best decisions for now, and for the future.
Using advanced digital models, we help simulate new strategies to help water sources reach the advised PFAS levels, as well as providing a cost benefit analysis for these strategies.
If you’d like help exploring your options and establishing your long-term asset planning, get in touch with our experts.
As PFAS pressures rise, choosing the right investments is critical. We combine engineering, economics, and environmental insight to help you navigate the complexity – for now and for the future.
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