IN CONVERSATION WITH
Once PFAS is ‘treated’ — either absorbed, removed or rejected, it is still present in our world. You have to eliminate it. Hence, there are two parts to the issue that we have with PFAS. One is treatment, the other one is destruction. What De Nora wants to do is bring to the table a solution that does both. Marwan Nesicolaci CEO, De Nora Water Technologies
For Asia, countries are at different development levels with different availability of funding. Therefore, solutions must be adaptable to them. Countries that have more available financial resources can choose. But if a country is strapped for funding resources, what is best for it? Leading De Nora, what is your advice to the global water sector fighting PFAS? How should the industry collaborate, moving forward? Nesicolaci: As PFAS is a mega trend, our industry needs to come out with standards, best processes and procedures for end users to adapt. Over the course of the next 18 months, there are going to be thousands who claim to treat PFAS, but as a buyer I will be confused. How do I assess? Are there references? If it is piloting, who has piloted? The best thing we can do is to come up with a set of guidelines and standards that will help customers in assessing and choosing the best technology available. This will remove the noise and confusion. All it takes is a few unscrupulous companies or a few bad solutions to give a bad name to the industry. It is almost inevitable that bad solutions and exaggerated claims will come out. This is the danger that we have to watch out for.
already done work in this field. With them, we improve our expertise in PFAS destruction.
used, but how the problem is going to be eliminated. How long is that going to last? You do not want to say this is the lowest capital expenditure but the user has to spend hundreds of thousands or millions a year to maintain the equipment. This cost is going to be passed on to the users, or governments have to subsidise it. It will affect everyone. But even if you have the right solution, you cannot get away with the cost of operating. So how can we minimise it? The other part of the issue is the destruction of PFAS. Once PFAS is ‘treated’ — either absorbed, removed or rejected, it is still present in our world. You have to eliminate it. Hence, there are two parts to the issue with PFAS. One is treatment, the other one is destruction. What De Nora wants to do is bring to the table a solution that does both. We have a team of 50 people that are working on all of these aspects of PFAS — treatment, destruction, and hauling the complex chemical. How does PFAS compete with other organic or inorganic contaminants in a media? That media, for instance, will absorb anything, it does not discriminate between PFAS and other contaminants. PFAS might also be found in different compositions of water. The solution here might not be the solution there. Hence, we educate customers and ourselves with piloting. Piloting can be inexpensive, but critical to understand the chemistry of the water in a particular application. Piloting helps with tailoring solutions, which is also critical.
With stricter law regulations for PFAS in the US and Europe, what are some developments you noticed in Asia? What should be the approach in this region? Nesicolaci: In Asia, the topic is behind, but it is here because the same products that have been used in Europe are also being used here. The extent to which there is a problem is what needs to be determined. So, like in Europe, they have well-developed heat maps. You know which countries have it and which do not. In the US, it is in the west and east coasts primarily. But there are already heat maps coming up in China, for example. China will catch up fast because a lot of data is already available. What we are doing in Asia — as we are doing in other places — is establishing the same type of contacts, connections and work. For example, five years ago, National University of Singapore (NUS) had PFAS research done in its environmental science division. De Nora is in discussion about developing potential opportunities together. We are going to do that with other universities and engineering consultants as well. The more knowledgeable we get about the behaviour of this chemical, the better we are at providing a solution to the customers. The solution right now that everybody speaks about is a simple one — activated carbon or ion exchange. But how long is that going to last? A drop of water, a litre of water, a gallon of water? What is going to happen with the PFAS? It is not the media or the technology
Marwan Nesicolaci CEO, De Nora Water Technologies
Water & Wastewater Asia | September-October 2024 29
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