As water systems across Colorado, and the entire country, grapple with how to remove toxic “forever chemicals” from their drinking water supplies, researchers at the Colorado School of Mines have invented and patented a new process to eliminate them entirely. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are called forever chemicals, because of their tough durability and difficulty breaking down in the environment. PFAS are used in a variety of products, like nonstick cookware, waterproof clothing, and firefighting foam.
But the Environmental Protection Agency says they can cause health problems, including birth defects and cancer. This year, the EPA is working to create regulations for PFAS in drinking water for the very first time, but that’s creating new challenges for many public water systems that have recently discovered levels above recommended safe limits. As public water systems install filtration systems to filter out the PFAS, the utilities will also need to decide what to do with the PFAS-concentrated toxic waste that is left behind.
The new process invented by the School of Mines solves the problem of what to do with that waste — it destroys it. Previously, the concentrated PFAS waste would get shipped to a landfill or sent to a facility to be incinerated, but those options could release the toxic chemicals back into the environment. Instead, the School of Mine’s process — called Hydrothermal alkaline treatment, or HALT — uses an extremely hot boiling sand with a chemical reactant to eliminate PFAS without emissions. It’s a process that’s been five years in the making.