News Contamination Environment Water Issues
Arcadis and ABS Materials partner on PFAS water treatment technology

Highlands Ranch, CO – Arcadis, design and consultancy for natural and built assets, has signed an exclusive teaming agreement with ABS Materials Inc. focused on the removal of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water.

ABS technology can be used alone or together with other technologies to remove PFAS from impacted media and applied to ground water remediation, point-of-entry treatment and industrial applications.

The technology centres on patented molecularly engineered porous and mechanically flexible organosilica-based sorbents. PQ-Osorb is the brand name for an ABS product designed to treat PFAS of all chain lengths – both long-chain PFAS such as PFOA and harder-to-treat short-chain compounds such as perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA).

The sorption kinetics (speed at which PFAS are removed) and loading capacity (pounds of PFAS per pound of media) are proving to be far better for PQ-Osorb than similar technologies, and its effectiveness is not reduced by other contaminants in the water, Arcadis said in a news release.

“Given the relevance of PFAS as a global environmental challenge, we place a critical importance on continuing to expand our already world-class capabilities to help deal with it,” said Alex Rothchild, president of the environment business for Arcadis North America. “Our partnership with ABS will help us further strengthen our ability to tailor solutions to our clients’ individual situations.”

Arcadis is working on PFAS projects at more than 300 client sites across 12 countries. For the past two years, Arcadis has been involved in a demonstration of ABS technology through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. The study is anticipated to conclude in 2020 following a field-scale demonstration.

“The treatment of PFAS is one of several key areas of focus for our technology. Given their technical expertise, credibility, global footprint and commitment to improving quality of life, Arcadis was the logical partner for us,” said Kevin Berner, executive chairman of ABS.