PFAS Treatment for Industrial Wastewater
Systems that capture PFAS from wastewater and leachate, designed around your water and your discharge permit.
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Why PFAS is hard to treat
It does not break down
PFAS are a family of thousands of man-made chemicals built on carbon-fluorine bonds, which is why they persist in water.
Biological treatment will not remove it
MBR and MBBR systems take out BOD and ammonia, but PFAS passes through. Treatment can even convert precursor compounds into PFAS that show up in your results.
It has to be separated
Removing PFAS means membranes or carbon after the biological step, and a plan for what you capture.
How PFAS is removed
PFAS is not broken down in treatment. It is separated from the water, either by adsorbing it onto carbon or by holding it back with a membrane.
Technology
How it works
Best for
Watch for
PFAS sticks to the carbon as water passes through it.
Polishing, and longer-chain PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS.
Shorter-chain PFAS break through sooner. Needs clean feed water, and spent carbon has to be changed out.
A tight membrane holds back PFAS along with dissolved salts.
Short- and long-chain PFAS, and streams that also need TDS removed.
Leaves a concentrate that has to be managed.
A slightly more open membrane that runs at lower pressure than reverse osmosis.
PFAS removal where you do not need to take out all the dissolved salts.
Leaves a concentrate, as reverse osmosis does.
Removes organics, ammonia and solids ahead of the PFAS step.
High-strength wastewater and leachate, where carbon and membranes would foul.
Does not remove PFAS itself.
EPA research on drinking water treatment finds that nanofiltration and reverse osmosis typically remove more than 90 percent of a wide range of PFAS, including shorter-chain compounds, and that carbon works best on longer-chain PFAS. Source: U.S. EPA, Reducing PFAS in Drinking Water with Treatment Technologies.
A typical treatment train
PFAS treatment sits at the end of the train, after the load that would foul it has been removed.
Pretreatment
Screening or DAF takes out solids, fats and oils
Biological
MBBR or MBR removes BOD and ammonia
RO or nanofiltration
Holds back PFAS and dissolved solids
Carbon polish
Adsorbs remaining PFAS where the limit calls for it
Discharge or reuse
Water that meets your permit
The exact train depends on your water and your limit, which is what lab testing and a pilot are for.
What happens to the PFAS you capture
Treatment does not destroy PFAS. It concentrates it into a much smaller volume that still has to go somewhere.
Membrane concentrate
Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration hold the PFAS back in a concentrate stream. At landfills, every system we have delivered returns that concentrate to the landfill. At other sites it goes to a permitted outlet, such as deep-well injection or a hazardous waste facility.
Spent carbon
Carbon holds the PFAS it adsorbs. When it is exhausted it is changed out and sent for thermal reactivation or permitted disposal.
Decided at design
Where the captured PFAS goes is settled before the system is built, not after startup.
Disposal options follow U.S. EPA's 2026 interim guidance on PFAS destruction and disposal.
Where PFAS shows up
Landfill leachate
EPA found PFAS in the leachate at more than 95% of the 200-plus landfills it studied. But its not like the landfills are producing any PFAS, they are accepting material others produced that have PFAS in it.
Centralized waste treatment
EPA is studying PFAS in the wastewater these facilities take in and discharge.
Metal finishing and manufacturing
EPA is writing PFAS discharge limits for chromium plating and finishing.
Pulp and paper
Mills have moved away from PFAS in food-contact papers, and EPA is still watching for legacy discharges.
Source: U.S. EPA, Effluent Guidelines Program Plan 15 and Preliminary Plan 16.
What is driving PFAS limits
Federal
EPA has not set PFAS discharge limits for any industry. It has said it will propose them for landfills, PFAS manufacturers and chromium plating, and as of November 2026 none had been proposed. In August 2026 it also withdrew its 2022 guidance encouraging PFAS conditions in discharge permits.
State
States are acting on their own. Maine bars its state-owned landfills from sending leachate to a treatment plant unless PFAS is reduced first. New Hampshire lets treatment plants require PFAS testing from industrial dischargers and refuse discharges above the plant's own threshold.
Local
The plant that receives your wastewater can set its own terms. More plants are asking industrial users for PFAS sampling, and some want pretreatment before they will accept a discharge.
Reviewed November 2026. PFAS rules change often, so confirm current requirements with your regulator. Sources: U.S. EPA; Congressional Research Service; Journal of the New England Water Environment Association.
Results
bioprocessH2O has the most extensive landfill leachate treatment experience in the United States.
Landfill leachate, New England
A bioFLOW MBR feeding reverse osmosis, treating 289,300 gallons per day.
BOD 2,093 to under 20 mg/L. Ammonia 1,483 to under 5 mg/L.
PFAS kept on site
On every leachate project we have delivered, the membrane concentrate has been returned to the landfill, so the PFAS it carries stays on site.
How a project starts
Step 1
Lab testing
Our lab profiles your water. PFAS itself is measured by an accredited lab using EPA Method 1633.
Step 3
System design
A system sized to your flow, your limits and your site.
FAQs
PFAS treatment questions
Does biological treatment remove PFAS?
No. Biological systems such as MBR and MBBR remove BOD, ammonia and solids, but PFAS passes through them. Biological treatment still matters, because it protects the membranes and carbon that do the PFAS removal.
Do I need activated carbon, reverse osmosis, or both?
It depends on which PFAS are in your water, what else is in it and the limit you have to meet. Carbon works well on longer-chain PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS. Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration also hold back the shorter-chain compounds that carbon lets through sooner, and they take out dissolved salts at the same time. A pilot on your own water settles it.
What happens to the concentrate and the spent carbon?
Membranes leave a concentrate that holds the PFAS. At landfills, every system we have delivered returns it to the landfill. At other sites it goes to a permitted disposal outlet. Spent carbon is changed out and sent for reactivation or permitted disposal. Both are planned at design.
Can PFAS treatment be added to my existing plant?
Usually, yes. PFAS removal goes after biological treatment, so membranes or carbon can be added downstream of an MBR or MBBR you already run. Our systems are modular, so capacity or new steps can be added as your limits change. We start from your flow, your current effluent quality and the space you have.
How is PFAS measured in wastewater?
With EPA Method 1633, finalized in January 2024. It measures 40 individual PFAS compounds and was validated on wastewater and landfill leachate. EPA Method 1621 is a screening test that estimates total organic fluorine. Accredited labs run both.
24/7 availability for critical support
