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9/12/2025
WT Staff
 Got water questions? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email us at info@wtny.us
Friday, Sep 12, 2025 429 pm EDT
Aqua-Aerobic innovates a high capacity water treatment system filter to capture and contain forever chemicals
Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc.
a Metawater company
Since 1969, Aqua-Aerobic's engineered solutions have contributed to the potable water and wastewater treatment in North America. Experience gained over half a century has made Aqua-Aerobic a master at aeration and mixing, biological processes, cloth media filtration, membranes and disinfection for industry and municipalities. More recently, the company has deployed a ready solution for the scourge of our day, forever chemicals.
PFAS, (per-and poly fluoroalkinated substances) are the DuPont and 3M patented wonders that brought us Teflon, leak-proof containers, stain-resistant textiles, Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF)for fighting fires and flawlessly realistic artificial turf. The entire class of more than 14,000 substances are known carcinogens, dubbed "forever chemicals" for their persistent properties. These toxins are ticking time bombs, bio-accumulating over time in our bodies and in the environment. The PFAS found in most manufactured consumer goods have passed through our households with our wastewater, where they are said to be mingling to form new substances, released to groundwater aquifers, leached into surface water bodies, contaminating drinking water sources for hundreds of millions of North Americans.
The Safe Drinking Water Act's(SDWA) Unregulated Contaminant Rule takes on a roster of emerging contaminants for a broad and intense five year investigation. All facilities serving over 10,000 people take part with routine testing for the defined substances in their drinking water. PFAS had been raised as a concern decades ago. It took a decade or more for certain PFAS substances to make it to the testing stage. The process to have these PFAS fully investigated in the drinking water supply took another five years. In April, 2024, US EPA announced that six PFAS would be added to the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. Drinking water facilities were given another five years to upgrade systems before the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) would be enforced, April 2029.
In an unprecedented move, the US EPA defied anti-backsliding laws to cancel four of the six regulated PFAS substances, striking them from the SDWA regulated contaminants list in May 2025. As of today, just two substances, PFOA and PFOS, have MCL levels stipulated in the nation's drinking water protection law. The deadline for water providers to comply has been extended to 2031.
See the WT article from May 2025, EPA renounces Safe Drinking Water Act regulation on four PFAS, defers implementation on PFOA and PFOS to 2031, here.
Adapting water treatment facilities to remove PFOA and PFOS by 2031 is ongoing. Aqua-Aerobic Systems engineers have collaborated with municipal project and construction consulting engineers to commission filtration and AASI treatment technologies for both potable water and wastewater facilities. Aqua-Aerobic claims to have "the best treatment solutions with the lowest lifecycle cost" in the industry.
WT connected with John Dyson, Product Manager PFAS Solutions for the full details. Aqua-Aerobic set to work on the PFAS problem [years ago] with the development of AquaPRS™ PFAS Removal System which employs a proprietary novel micro-sorbent to remove PFAS from an influent stream, adsorbing the offending materials in suspension. The robust process uses a high concentration slurry contactor which ensures adsorption of the PFAS compounds and other emerging contaminants. The sorbent allows for very high PFAS loadings which can be 20 to 500+ times higher (ug of PFAS/g of sorbent) than GAC. The novel sorbent is then separated from the treated water with separator process that produces a high quality effluent equal to microfiltration while recycling the sorbent back into the sorbent contactor for high PFAS loading to the sorbent. The ability to load PFAS to high concentrations on the sorbent dramatically reduces the amount of sorbent and disposal costs resulting in a low net present cost for the end-user. creates turbulence in the adsorbent slurry, the movement deters microbiological contamination and keeps the filter clear of minerals and solids.
A safety feature for operators, The AquaPRS™ process is completely automated for ease of operation, limiting human contact with concentrated waste. The rejection and replacement of the adsorbent is achieved at the touch of the controls. Rejected material can be containerized for future disposal, or destroyed on site. The operator can make adjustments from the control console for any changes in the concentration of PFAS in the incoming waste stream or influent, ensuring a high quality effluent at all times.
The patented sorbent material has been engineered for maximum surface area and contact for the adsorption of PFAS, rendering AquaPRS™ able to extract significantly higher waste loads than other adsorption technologies or ion-exchange resins. The higher capacity of AquaPRS™ treatment process minimizes life cycle cost, upholding the Aqua-Aerobic Systems principle, lowest life cycle cost in the industry.
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