Massachusetts has begun testing a suite of new technologies aimed at reducing and destroying so-called "forever chemicals" in its wastewater, in what officials describe as a first-of-its-kind effort to curb the spread of PFAS through municipal treatment systems.
The state's Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has selected the global infrastructure firm AECOM, working in partnership with engineering consultancy CDM Smith, to run the pilot programme across several publicly owned wastewater treatment works. Eighteen pilot tests of different materials and technologies have already been completed within what AECOM described as a compressed timeframe.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of synthetic chemicals used for decades in everything from non-stick cookware to firefighting foam. They are highly resistant to breaking down in the environment and are coming under increasing regulatory scrutiny in both the United States and Europe.
Municipal wastewater plants typically treat sewage from households and businesses but were never designed to remove PFAS, meaning the chemicals can pass through largely untouched and end up in rivers, soils and biosolids used as fertiliser.
Under the multi-site approach, AECOM is leading studies that evaluate emerging PFAS treatment and destruction technologies across liquid, solid and air process streams at different plants simultaneously
The Massachusetts programme is intended to address that gap. Under the multi-site approach, AECOM is leading studies that evaluate emerging PFAS treatment and destruction technologies across liquid, solid and air process streams at different plants simultaneously. The work is designed to generate performance data on how PFAS behave during treatment, including how they move through pilot process inputs and outputs, and how they can be reduced or eliminated from effluent and biosolids.
Sam Donelson, chief executive of AECOM's U.S. East and Latin America region, said the programme reflected "a highly innovative approach to tackling PFAS by testing multiple technologies in real-world conditions and across multiple treatment streams". He added that the team had been built to deploy the pilots quickly while maintaining what he called a "rigorous, research-level evaluation".
Doug Gove, regional business line leader for U.S. East Water, North at AECOM, described PFAS as "one of the most complex water challenges facing communities today" and said the company was committed to advancing practical solutions to limit their spread.
The findings are expected to inform future decision-making not only for Massachusetts utilities but for water authorities elsewhere that are searching for scalable ways to address the contaminants. By comparing several treatment options at different sites in parallel, the programme is intended to provide a clearer picture of which technologies are operationally feasible and where they perform best.
The pilot comes as regulators in the United States and beyond tighten rules on PFAS in drinking water and wastewater, and as utilities grapple with the cost and complexity of removing chemicals once marketed for their durability and now criticised for precisely the same reason.
