Treatment Effectiveness of PFAS Removal in Drinking Water for US EPA and Colorado

APTIM’s environmental solutions and laboratory operations teams determined the treatment effectiveness of commercially available Point-of-Entry (POE) GAC adsorption (Rapid Small-Scale Column Tests [RSSCT]) and RO treatment systems for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) removal for use in households affected by contaminated groundwater near Colorado Springs, CO. APTIM manufactured synthetic groundwater with the characteristics of the Widefield Aquifer Region, conducted the experiments, collected and analyzed influent and effluent water samples, analyzed data from treatability tests to predict operating life of GAC when removing PFAS from simulated groundwater, compared life expectancy for two brands of GAC (coconut- and bituminous-based), estimated replacement filter costs for three models of RO units, compared the ease of installation and design features (including pretreatment) for each unit, and identified additional equipment that would be required for a complete POE treatment system. APTIM co-authored a journal article awarded the 2020 Publications Award for the most notable contribution, scientific or practical, to the public water supply profession as published in the Journal AWWA of the American Water Works Association.

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