Scientists from a privately owned Australian company, OPEC Systems, claim to have developed a new technology known as Surface Active Foam Fractionation to remove PFAS compounds from contaminated water.
The Department of Defence paid to bring technology from the US to treat drinking water in Katherine last year.
The Katherine plant was designed by Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies that uses a synthetic substance to filter PFAS from water called Ion Exchange Resins.
OPEC Systems says SAFF technology is ideally suited for on-site treatment of PFAS contaminated above ground bulk water stores at places such as airports, industrial locations, refineries and defence sites.
It can also be used to treat bore water as it exits the ground, promising relief for rural communities experiencing PFAS contamination in their stock and irrigation waters.
The OPEC Systems describes its SAFF technology.
Water processing capacity for SAFF is scalable, with a base model system designed to process 500 litres per hour from a 1.5 x 2.4m forkliftable platform.
The modular system design has capacity for limitless expansion, with engineering designs for a 10,000 litre-an-hour system currently being finalised.
Using a simple ‘Air in – PFAS out’ approach, our SAFF technology successfully exploits this characteristic to remove PFAS compounds from water.” SAFF technology treats PFAS contaminated water on site within specialised fractionation columns.
“Foam Fractionation has been an exciting success story for our scientists as we work strategically to identify simple and effective ways to remove PFAS contaminants from water sources.