About

Loureiro conducted side-by-side treatability trials of various natural adsorptive media (NM), resins, and GAC technologies for PFAS removal from a potable water source in NH.  The objective was to demonstrate media removal performance and longevity (i.e., bed volume capacity prior to breakthrough) specifically for short-chain PFAS molecules. Loureiro's workscope included the following:

• Batch reactor tests to screen each media’s performance and capacity
• Design and implementation of scalable long-term / high volume column test to demonstrate breakthrough performance of each media
• Interpretation of results to evaluate actual annual costs of media utilization when accounting for short-chain PFAS breakthrough, residence time, and other non-target constituent impacts

Loureiro’s work showed that changing PFAS regulations could significantly impact adsorption technology cost and selection depending on remediation targets.

• Findings were presented at numerous conferences
• Results showed unanticipated behavior of some specific short-chain molecules, underlining importance of site-specific testing
• Developed field scalable cost ($/gallon treated) for each technology
• Results highlighted that as more individual PFAS molecules become regulated, this may change economics of selected technologies