Science Inventory

Effectiveness of Point-of-Use/Point-of-Entry Systems to Remove Per-and-Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances from Drinking Water

Citation:

Patterson, C., J. Burkhardt, D. Schupp, E. Krishnan, S. Dyment, S. Merritt, L. Zintek, AND D. Kleinmaier. Effectiveness of Point-of-Use/Point-of-Entry Systems to Remove Per-and-Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances from Drinking Water. Edition 1st, Chapter 10, Forever Chemicals: Environmental, Economic, and Social Equity Concerns with PFAS in the Environment. Taylor & Francis Group, London, Uk, , 211-235, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003024521

Impact/Purpose:

Per- and Poly- fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) contamination of groundwater sources in the U.S. is a widespread problem for the drinking water industry. Well water supplies in the municipalities of Fountain, Security and Widefield, Colorado contain PFOA and PFOS greater than EPA’s health advisory of 70 ppt. The source of PFAS in the well water has been associated with firefighting use of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) at Peterson AFB. Several public water systems and numerous private well owners use the impacted Widefield Aquifer as their sole source of drinking water. To assist property owners and limit exposure of PFASs in residential drinking water systems, U.S. EPA conducted treatability studies on the PFAS removal effectiveness of commercially available Point-of-Use/Point-of-Entry (POE) Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment units and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC).

Description:

To assist property owners and limit exposure of PFASs in residential drinking water systems, U.S. EPA conducted treatability studies on the PFAS removal effectiveness of commercially available Point-of-Use/Point-of-Entry (POE) Reverse Osmosis (RO) treatment units and Granular Activated Carbon (GAC). . Household water systems were tested using a modified version of NSF Test Method P473 that included the six PFAS detected and the water quality of the Widefield Aquifer. The project also documented the 1) Ease of use during installation, startup, shakedown, and continuous/intermittent operation based on manufacturer instructions and 2) Operation and schedules for maintenance and replacement of RO units and GAC media based on manufacturer instructions and the representative test water quality.