PFAS – Industrial Water Treatment

Dealing with PFAS can be difficult due to the nature of this harmful group of chemicals, a trusted solution is needed with best available technologies. We offer 3 of these technologies in-house already as well as having a dedicated team that are working with clients to innovate and deploy simple, effective end to end solutions for treating PFAS. If you have recently discovered PFAS in a water source or the groundwater where your operation takes place, we are able to assist with treating that, not just because it is the right thing to do but also to ensure that all compliance by local authorities is adhered to. Achieving the correct treatment solution required expertise and close monitoring by our team of experts, there’s no single solution but a tailored approach to every case can ensure safe handling to remove and eventually destroy PFAS for good.

Industrial Producers Responsibility

Many governments are now looking at where the responsibility for PFAS really begins, is it with the companies’ producing goods that utilise PFAS, is it with companies that discover PFAS and must act, today there are several fines and penalties in place. 

‘Sugar Tax, Cigarette Tax, …’ – Coming into play all over the world, a higher tax and system to increase the costs around using PFAS chemicals in production, designed to dissuade people from producing products with PFAS. The challenge is that it’s very difficult to find alternatives, therefore we need to constantly keep an eye on how best to mitigate any PFAS usage in the production of goods. 

 

Where does PFAS appear in industrial applications?

There are many places where harmful PFAS chemicals can enter our water cycle, some of these are the result of industrial and manufacturing operations that can’t always be avoided. Our solutions can help mitigate this contamination and keep our water and the environment safer. Here are some of the challenges we can help with:

Manufacturing Process Water

In several manufacturing processes PFAS are still used today, whilst there is a big push for finding alternatives, where certain applications still contain PFAS it is important that they are filtered before they are able to escape into the outside water cycle.

Firefighting Foam

Firefighting is a necessity to help keep us safe, but today certain foam agents like AFFF that are deployed for extinguishing fires are known to contain PFAS, special consideration needs to be taken before using these foams and for facilities that might be involved in training or deploying firefighting actions a stage of filtration needs to be introduced before the harmful PFAS chemicals can make their way into the water. This could be areas surrounding airfields, military bases that practice fire drills or even firefighting training centres. 

Soil Remediation

In order to protect our environment, we have to ensure that solutions are available to reduce soil contamination that can happen for a variety of reasons. It could be pollution from local commercial activities, perhaps historic building or infrastructure that has left pollution in the ground, either way, it needs to be treated. Our solutions are here to help manage these issues.

Landfill Leachate

As humans we generate waste, today we are more and more cautious with how that waste is handled thankfully, but a part of managing the waste we produce involves treating the water that comes into contact with our landfill operations. Landfill leachate can contain a complex mixture of contaminants including PFAS chemicals. Treatment stages for landfill leachate need to include a stage for removing the harmful chemicals. 

PRODUCTS

Activated carbon and ion exchange resins are widely known to be the most effective solution. When the molecular weight of the chemical you are dealing with is lower, ion exchange resins are the best option and if the weight is higher, activated carbon performs best.

At Jacobi, we can offer a comprehensive, end-to-end service using either, or both, of these solutions, alongside the necessary personnel and equipment. This means you won’t need to source different areas of your solution from separate companies. All three businesses in the Jacobi Group come together to provide smooth running and effective PFAS solutions for our customers.

Activated CarbonIon Exchange Resins
ConditionsPFAS concentration < 10 µg/LPFAS concentration > 2 µg/L
EBCT20 minutes
Lead-lag configuration preferred		3 minutes
Smaller footprint
LimitsBetter for long chain (>C6) - adsorption improves with longer chainBetter when high percentage of shorter chain - capture improves with decreasing chain
CapacityAdsorption capacity available for PFAS and
other contaminants (organics, pesticides and metabolites, taste and odours)		Higher throughput for PFAS
Longer Life
SustainabilityReactivation possible by JacobiOne-way use
Costlower price per kg, lower adsorption capacityhigher cost per kg, higher adsorption capacity
AC and IEX solution for PFAS removal.

AC and IEX is the best solution for taking care of PFAS.

Granular Activated Carbons for PFAS Removal

At Jacobi we address each individual PFAS removal case and provide products either from our large portfolio or tailored to the customer’s exact needs.

This portfolio includes:

AquaSorbTM CX and J200

  • High activity coconut-based activated carbons
  • Highly microporous adsorbent
  • Extensive microporosity leads to superior adsorption and retentivity of PFAS in water matrices containing low organic background (groundwater)
  • Sustainable raw material means these products have the lowest Global Warming Potential

AquaSorbTM 6300 and 6300-M

  • High activity granulated activated carbon
  • Manufactured specifically for water treatment
  • Combines raw materials to allow a homogeneous activation of each particle
  • Tolerant to pore blockage due to their widespread pore distribution
  • AquaSorb™ 6300-M is suitable for use in the treatment of PFAS in surface water treatment highly loaded by organics.

AquaSorbTM Hybrid Products (eg. AquaSorbTM F23)

  • Customer specific blends tailored to the customer’s needs and treatment conditions
  • High performance activated carbon specifically manufactured for water treatment
  • Unique pore size distribution
  • May be produced using a sustainable raw material

Ion Exchange Resins for PFAS Removal

Jacobi Resins provides ion exchange resins to treat PFAS problems, to be used either instead of, or alongside, activated carbons.

  • Resinex™ PFCR-1 & PFCR-2 Selective PFOA/PFOS anion exchange resin
  • Functional chemical group with very high selectivity for PFAS
  • One litre of resin can treat up to 200m³ of water with a contact time of three minutes
  • Resinex™ PFCR-2 is NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 approved for use in water treatment plant
  • Completely eliminates short-chain PFAS with sulphonic function

Due to its very long service lifetime, the Resinex™ PFCR Series is intended for single use and the resins are incinerated once saturated.

SERVICES

Mobile Filter Units

At Jacobi, we don’t simply provide the required product needed to tackle your PFAS problem. We are in a unique position that allows us to offer a full service including as much or as little of the equipment, technical know-how and personnel needed to ensure an effective solution.

This includes rental of mobile filter units, which we can arrange to be delivered and installed at your site by our team of PFAS removal experts. Filter sizes range from 200litre to 20m³ vessels and are able to treat flows from 100l/h to 80m³/h of water. As filters are modular, they can be arranged in series or parallel.

Our specialised teams can also deal with all the required logistics, including media handling, as well as any tests or evaluations that might be needed. Our goal is to provide you with every aspect of your PFAS solution in the quickest, easiest and simplest way possible.

In practice this means

  • Using test data and our extensive experience to help you to select the best products or product combinations.
  • Helping you to select the filters and flow conditions that will achieve the best possible technical performance. (PFAS is a micropollutant and so contact times are crucial for optimal removal of low concentration components.)
  • Providing process analysis and start up support that ensures the filter sequence provides the most costeffective and technically optimal performance.
  • Safe, clean and efficient logistics and media exchange with minimal impact on your personnel’s time.
  • Using closed systems approved for transporting the waste in a secure way without risk of spillage.
mobile filter units for pfas removal

Our fleet of filters can be connected preloaded with filter media to treat a PFAS contamination problem.

Reactivation of Spent Carbon and Disposal of PFAS, A Forever Solution

The PFAS problem holds a unique challenge. Normally an application is successful when the pollutants are removed and captured in the activated carbon. In the case of PFAS, only half of the problem is solved. Transporting captured PFAS to a disposal site, even in a concentrated form, will simply move the problem. A forever chemical needs a forever solution.

We have been working since 2022 to develop that solution and we are pleased to say that we now have it. Once transported to our European facilities we are able to reactivate spent carbon with PFAS in our high temperature kilns. Thus, breaking down the PFAS molecules into basic fluoride compounds. This process is monitored meticulously to ensure adequate and responsible processing and we have been certified with the relevant governmental body. This is a forward step in the forever solution and it’s the most sustainable way to manage concentrated PFAS waste activated carbon.

Being able to reactivate and reuse carbon is proven to have a far smaller negative impact on the planet than producing more virgin carbon, making it the most sustainable option. Finally, it is also far more cost-effective for the user too.

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