Even a small distribution system can benefit from effective carbon filtration, removing PFOA from a contaminated well.

Challenge

In late 2015 and early 2016, testing revealed PFOA contaminated municipal water wells in locations in Vermont. Spurred by these initial discoveries, further testing in March of 2016 revealed PFOA contamination in the municipal water supply of the town. The contamination tested higher than Vermont’s 20 parts per trillion state-defined standard for drinking water.

The source of the contaminated water was located approximately 250 meters away from the municipal well, at a former industrial site. Upon learning of the elevated test results, the state issued a “do not drink” order to the 450 residents served by the municipal water supply until the water source could pass quality testing again. Finding and implementing a solution as quickly as possible was of the utmost priority.

Solution

After evaluating several options, the client chose Evoqua Water Technologies because of its speed of deployment and experience in the market. Within two weeks of ordering, Evoqua was on site, installing four HP 2000 stainless steels vessels filled with AquaCarb 1230C coconut shell-based granular activated carbon — an effective solution for the type of contamination present, and NSF-61 certified for use in drinking water applications. As soon as installation was finished, the system immediately began treating water directly from the well, before it was then sent to the town’s disinfection and distribution network.

Results

The effects on the town’s water supply were immediate: as soon as the system became operational in the summer of 2016, the PFOA levels in the water dropped down below the state’s health advisory limit of 20 ppt. In August of 2016, the “do not drink” ban was lifted, and residents could once again use the municipal water.

Evoqua’s system has remained in place since then, and continues to treat the town’s water supply with no interruption in either water quality or supply.