PHATsakk43

Fellow licensed treatment operator here.

So, there are definitely methods that work to remove PFOS/PFAS. Ground water is generally safe, unless you're really close to a high source. Surface water on the other hand is problematic, as we've found that the stuff has a fairly wide fallout radius from airborne sources.

That said, activated charcoal has shown a pretty decent amount of effectiveness. My guess is that is what municipalities will turn to in high source term areas, as its fairly low cost, especially if you're only treating "finished water" with the GAC (granular activated charcoal) filters. Standard flocculation/sedimentation/filtration would be utilized first, with a GAC unit added to the outlet of the system before the water enters the chlorine contact tanks prior to distribution.

The plant I'm licensed on is a small one for a nuclear utility plant's potable system but also supplies the demineralized water makeup system we use in the steam and reactor plant, so we actually use reverse-osmosis for our primary treatment. PFOS/PFAS is not found in our finished water whatsoever.

Anion resins (similar to a water softener but removes negative ions instead of positive ones) have likewise shown similar removal capabilities as GAC and membrane systems. These will require period regeneration however, usually with a caustic solution.

For a home system, you can get a treatment product in either of the three styles as well.

I've been doing this for a long time.

Unfortunately, the answer is usually, "it depends" and no one wants an AMA like that.

I noticed just how much the average car price has shot up recently and couldn’t imagine paying the prices on the stickers I saw on vehicles that appear to be very common, like $50-80K for pickups and SUVs from Chevrolet. Seems to be a good way to get in debt for a very long time.

Ground water and surface water are totally different things.

You have some dissolved ionic stuff, but you're usually free of the organics and TSS.

This is a good point to make here. Treatment operators are not necessarily engineers or scientists, even though I know several of those who hold licenses (I’m one, for example). Potable water production isn’t really much of my job; it is actually a very small part honestly.

I was trying to answer a question without stepping on anyone’s toes.