- September 25, 2024
- Perspectives, Trending Topics
Prioritizing Clean Water:
PFAS Mitigation Strategiesfor Investor-Owned Utilities
Shelby Hughes, PE
Water/Wastewater Engineer
Steve Romano, PE
Water/Wastewater Engineer
Sarp Sekeroglu, PE
Water/Wastewater Engineer
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” are man-made chemicals that have been used in various industries for decades. Due to their potential health risks, which include cancer, liver disease, and developmental issues in children, they have become a significant concern in water systems.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) maintains a national standard for allowable PFAS levels in drinking water. This regulation, known as the PFAS National Primary Drinking Water Regulation, requires water utilities—including investor-owned utilities—to monitor and treat their water to ensure the PFAS levels fall below the established maximum contaminant levels. To adhere to the standards and support community health, investor-owned utilities are actively seeking technologies and strategies that mitigate PFAS in their water systems.
How Can Utilities Treat PFAS Contamination?
There are proven technologies, such as ion exchange (IX) and granular activated carbon (GAC), that remove many different types of contaminants, including PFAS. Ion exchange systems use hydrocarbon resins with either negative or positive charges to attract the oppositely-charged PFAS ions and hold them back from contaminating the water. These can be more directly formulated to target PFAS specifically. GAC is a high-carbon organic filter that adsorbs many contaminants, including PFAS, restraining these harmful chemicals from the finished drinking water.
The technologies for removing PFAS are rapidly evolving and new methods are being developed to improve operations, reduce costs, and expand disposal alternatives. For investor-owned utilities with multiple water systems that require differing levels of PFAS removal, evaluating the available technologies is critical to stabilizing operations. Stakeholders should consider a range of applications to support standardizing both equipment and operating protocols where possible.
One approach to evaluating the existing technology solutions is through full-scale pilots that examine the effectiveness of proposed technologies prior to comprehensive acceptance. As PFAS is an emerging contaminant, not all technologies are pre-approved by state regulators and may require piloting prior to permitting. By conducting these pilots, utilities can further explore existing technologies to increase efficiency in removing PFAS substances. They can also leverage pilots to compare costs, consider operating conditions, and evaluate results prior to implementation in multiple systems. This ultimately saves the utility time and money by optimizing improvements while supporting the long-term health of customers.
What is an Example of PFAS Removal in Action?
One example of a large-scale PFAS removal system is the one created for the Stuart Water Treatment Plant in Florida. Faced with a significant influx of PFAS substances due to groundwater contamination from a neighboring public safety complex, the plant needed to evaluate innovative methods to remove PFAS. To determine the best solution, our team and the plant compared the benefits and challenges of various treatment options.
After a thorough investigation utilizing risk assessments and remediation strategies, a solution that treated Stuart’s raw water with IX resin and GAC toppings was recommended. Once applied, this new treatment system became the first IX water treatment system of its kind in Florida and the largest operating PFAS contamination removal system in the US.
How Can Utilities Navigate PFAS Mitigation with Proven Solutions?
PFAS mitigation can be a challenge for water utilities, yet it also offers an opportunity for innovation and responsible leadership. To support this decision making, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality partnered with Kimley-Horn to develop an invaluable tool for investor-owned utilities seeking to align with EPA PFAS guidelines: Decision Trees for PFAS Mitigation Selection in Drinking Water.
The available decision trees are meant to be leveraged by professional engineers working alongside utilities after they have determined that their drinking water contains above-standard PFAS levels. A decision tree is available for making choices about non-treatment options, such as developing a new well or rehabilitating an existing water source. Additionally, if treatment is required, other decision trees highlight specific, conditions-based recommendations for leveraging the best available PFAS removal technologies, including IX and GAC. This supportive decision-making tool builds on the experiences and knowledge of water/wastewater engineers and other experts, helping stakeholders chart the best path forward for PFAS mitigation.
By partnering with experienced engineering firms that understand the unique needs of investor-owned utilities, utilities can implement cost-effective, targeted solutions to protect public health, meet regulatory requirements, and optimize long-term capital planning. Today, utilities can take proactive steps to address the significant impact of PFAS and support sustainable water for their customers’ futures.
About the Authors
Shelby Hughes, PE
Shelby is a water resources engineer with 13 years of experience involving water and wastewater utility projects for public and investor-owned utilities. Shelby’s technical expertise includes planning, design, permitting, and construction of water and wastewater collection, distribution, transmission, and treatment infrastructure. Shelby’s experience includes hydraulic modeling, master planning, asset management program development, small and large-scale water and wastewater treatment improvements, PFAS/PFOA improvements and regulatory guidance, public outreach, funding administration compliance, and capital improvement project plan development. Shelby has facilitated the completion of a large variety of projects through traditional design, bid, build, and collaborative delivery procurement methods by prioritizing the client’s needs and ensuring a comprehensive team is dedicated to the success of the project.
Steve Romano, PE
Steve is a professional engineer with more than 27 years of experience working as a consultant for municipal and investor-owned utilities. Providing designs for new facilities as well as retrofits and relocations, Steve has experience with a full range of utility projects, including water treatment facility design, wastewater treatment facility design, pipeline design, pump station design, and master planning. Spending the majority of his career working with investor-owned utilities, Steve has specialized in small- to medium-sized advanced treatment systems looking to leverage the technical needs of an advanced facility with the restrictions common to smaller systems. Steve’s experience allows him to bring cost-effective, innovative solutions that best fit the specific needs of his clients.
Sarp Sekeroglu, PE
Sarp has more than 20 years of experience in the water industry in design, project management, construction, planning, team building, and business development. His design background includes projects such as water and wastewater treatment design, system distribution wastewater collection design, preparation of water/wastewater master plans, and seawater desalination.