IN CONVERSATION WITH
“PFAS, like any mega trend, will attract a lot of companies
— standard and best practices are required”
De Nora Water Technologies CEO Marwan Nesicolaci shares about De Nora’s strategic focus on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) treatment, positioning the company among the top three global players by investing in research, piloting projects, and developing industry standards. He adds the need for tailored solutions, advocating for collaboration in establishing best practices, and cautions against misleading the public about these ‘forever chemicals’.
By Amira Yunos
nitrogen. Our objective, like it has been for anything else; we want to be a leader and we want to be among the top three global players with a thorough knowledge of the treatment and destruction of this chemical. A lot of investment will be placed in piloting with potential clients, R&D projects and partnerships with other companies. We are already participating in Europe in different research projects with a defined scope of what we want to do with regards to PFAS. They are Life Cascade, which is a consortium of engineers; the University of Milan; and Bocconi University. In this case, it is about pre-treatment of chemicals and ways to remove PFAS. In the UK, there is a consortium of water companies that are researching various aspects of the removal. We are working with various different technology companies on the destruction of PFAS. One technology that has the capability to destroy PFAS is electrochemistry — the utilisation of electrochemical process. De Nora is one of the premier companies in the world with electrochemical processes. We want to bring our expertise to companies that have
(Image: Unsplash)
How is De Nora tackling PFAS in drinking water? Marwan Nesicolaci: PFAS is the new mega trend in our industry, no doubt. Billions of dollars will be invested and spent over the next 5-10 years. It is not fully understood, the impact or the extent of the issue because this is a complex contaminant. With PFAS, there are thousands of mutations. What we
do know is that it is a harmful contaminant and we need to do something about it.
With any mega trends, PFAS will attract a lot of companies, some good, some not so good. For De Nora, we have 25 years of experience in treating complex organic and inorganic contaminants like dioxin or arsenic, or nutrients like ammonia or
28 Water & Wastewater Asia | September-October 2024
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online