Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID ND_2023_Bezbaruah_2

Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Approach to PFAS Removal From Drinking Water

Institute: North Dakota
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-05-15
Total Federal Funds: $4,100 Total Non-Federal Funds: $4,174

Principal Investigators: Achintya Bezbaruah

Project Summary: PFAS are a category of dangerous contaminants that are found in drinking water throughout the United States. Removing PFAS from the water is very challenging due to the properties of these chemicals. To address the challenges presented by PFAS removal, activated carbon, a common filter material used to catch PFAS, will be modified by essentially placing iron particles on the surface of the carbon to achieve higher rates of PFAS removal. It is important to continue coming up with better technologies for treatment of PFAS in drinking water because these chemicals are toxic and pose great danger to the health of the public. In addition to the safety concerns, stricter limits which are extremely low are being set for the allowable concentrations of PFAS in treated water and will need to be met.