Aclarity Destroys PFAS Chemicals Forever in Full-Scale Pilot

First-ever mobile pilot, sponsored by Xylem, succeeds as US EPA proposes Hazardous Waste designation for PFAS

The full-scale pilot, sponsored by Xylem, a leading water technology company, demonstrates that PFAS, otherwise known as “forever chemicals,” a class of highly toxic and ubiquitous substances previously resistant to any form of degradation, can be destroyed at full-scale capacity for large operations. The modular nature of the Aclarity technology allows for destruction of low volume streams and even those requiring upwards of millions of gallons per day to be treated.

Aclarity Destroys PFAS Chemicals Forever in Full-Scale Pilot in Collaboration with Xylem

Until now, PFAS destruction technologies have been relegated to the laboratory, or to batched processing.  Yet most wastewater treatment processes need a continual-flow solution – a batch process would interrupt facility operations. Aclarity’s full scale reactors can continuously destroy PFAS at a rate that matches the customer’s purification train.

Third party lab results using standard ASTM method D7979 confirmed Aclarity destroyed PFAS compounds in landfill leachate continuously at a centralized waste treatment facility at levels of greater than 1,000 ng/L to below 10 ng/L. The equipment operated continuously for 4 weeks using very little energy: less than 100 Watt-hr/gallon.

“Electrochemical destruction is a leading candidate for degrading PFAS from water into harmless by-products including carbon dioxide and fluoride ions. In our laboratory testing, the destruction efficiency seen in Aclarity’s electrochemical destruction pilot unit was excellent and is a notable advancement,” said Dr. Mahmut S. Ersan, an Assistant Research Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering, and the Built Environment at Arizona State University.

These results offer a pathway forward to ridding the world of dangerous, cancer-causing forever chemicals. They come at a time when the US EPA is proposing to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA (the Superfund act), which would require PFAS disposal or on-site treatment at landfills, more than tripling operating costs for operators. As this ruling moves forward, Aclarity’s system provides landfill operators and centralized waste treatment facilities with a cost-effective tool to comply and save the environment.

“Existing methods for managing PFAS in landfill leachate merely transfer the chemicals within our environment,” Julie Bliss Mullen, Aclarity CEO, said. “By proving scalability and leading unit economics, our customers now have a feasible solution to destroy PFAS forever, reducing environmental impact, liability, costs and operations while increasing capacity and public health.”

After a recent fundraise of over $3 million, Aclarity is combating PFAS in landfills across the country with their mobile trailers, helping landfills of all sizes set and achieve safety and sustainability goals around PFAS and improve public health. The company is currently planning several permanent installations in 2023 and is working to evaluate complementary concentration technology providers to expand into verticals such as drinking water and groundwater remediation.

Aclarity is a venture-backed, woman owned and founded water technology company based in Massachusetts. Aclarity’s low energy, electrochemical process quickly and safely destroys dangerous contaminants in water at the industrial scale and makes it easy to destroy unwanted contaminants such as PFAS in landfill leachate and other highly concentrated PFAS streams.

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