Calgon Carbon Corporation has announced a major investment to strengthen U.S. drinking water treatment infrastructure, committing nearly $100 million to expand carbon reactivation capacity at its facility in Columbus, Ohio. The project, backed by parent company Kuraray Co., Ltd., will add around 27 million pounds of annual reactivation capacity, with commissioning scheduled for the first quarter of 2028.
The expansion comes as utilities accelerate preparations to comply with federal limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS and other PFAS compounds in drinking water, with compliance required by April 2031.
The company’s proprietary reactivation process reduces adsorbed PFAS to below detectable levels and achieves more than 99.9% destruction removal efficiency
The Columbus site, certified under NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for potable water applications, will install two additional kilns and related infrastructure. The design allows for further scaling as demand grows, particularly across the Midwest and Eastern United States.
Calgon Carbon’s proprietary thermal reactivation process used to restore spent granular activated carbon for reuse in drinking water applications while destroying contaminants adsorbed during treatment. According to peer-reviewed research published in Remediation Journal, the company’s proprietary reactivation process reduces adsorbed PFAS to below detectable levels and achieves more than 99.9% destruction removal efficiency, with no reformed PFAS or products of incomplete combustion detected in stack emissions. In addition to contaminant destruction, reactivation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to producing virgin activated carbon, while eliminating the need to landfill spent media.
In parallel, Calgon Carbon is advancing a new reactivation facility on an 83-acre site in Moore, South Carolina, to serve utilities in the Southeastern U.S., reinforcing domestic supply chains ahead of tightening regulatory timelines.
