30 November 2022
EPOC Enviro’s Surface-Active Foam Fractionation (SAFF®) PFAS water treatment plant has arrived this week in Minnesota USA, ready to commence remediation works for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).
The MPCA is the custodian of a landmark settlement with 3M, making the US clean-up site one of the highest-profile PFAS impacted locations in the world.
This award-winning containerized system is just the third SAFF to arrive in the USA and is one of 10 units currently in existence so far globally.
“Minnesota is a state which is on the leading edge of PFAS remediation. We could not be prouder to have our SAFF technology selected as a lead technology in this critically important work,” said EPOC Enviro Company President, Peter Murphy.
SAFF represents a sustainably engineered approach to PFAS remediation, where a combination of aeration and vacuum is used to elegantly ‘foam out’ 99+ per cent of target PFAS molecules, enabling treated water to be safely returned to the environment.
“We used a green science approach to create SAFF. Our objective was to create a simple, low-cost solution that produces no waste other than a high density PFAS concentrate and contributes zero environmental harm.”
“As an environmental engineering company, we are committed to helping to positively solve this vast contamination problem which is why we are investing heavily in the construction of a SAFF manufacturing facility at Emu Plains that can build up to 150 SAFF units a year,” he said.
SAFF leverages the natural physiochemistry of PFAS molecules to bond to the surface of air bubbles. With SAFF units now helping to remediate multiple PFAS sites on three continents including at Oakey and Shoalhaven in Australia, it represents a proven approach to permanently remove PFAS from the ecosystem.
“We now have a brilliant opportunity to showcase the value of years of sustainable engineering development in resolving these complex forever chemical remedial issues. This is a positive sign of change as the remediation community moves away from unsustainable adsorbent technologies.”
The system will be paired with AECOM’s DeFlouro Electrochemical Oxidation Cell technology, ensuring permanent destruction of these forever chemicals.
A team are now in place in Minnesota commissioning the SAFF, so it can begin to remediate surface and lake waters within the affected catchment areas.