AECOM selected to conduct PFAS pilot program

AECOM was selected by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to deliver piloting reduction and destruction technologies for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at municipal wastewater treatment plants (POTWs) across Massachusetts.

AECOM, in partnership with CDM Smith, executed 18 pilot tests on materials and technologies within a compressed timeframe. The program evaluates a range of complementary approaches for PFAS separation and destruction across multiple POTWs, enabling MassDEP to better identify effective, scalable solutions.

Municipal POTWs treat wastewater from communities, yet PFAS from domestic and commercial sources often pass through these facilities untreated. Through this program, AECOM leads multiple pilot studies evaluating a range of emerging PFAS treatment and destruction technologies across liquid, solid, and air process streams.

The effort will generate critical performance data to better understand how PFAS behave in treatment processes, including their fate across pilot process inputs and outputs, and how they can be reduced or eliminated from effluent and biosolids.

Using a multi-technology, multi-site approach, the program will simultaneously evaluate several treatment solutions at different POTWs, providing insights into technology performance, operational feasibility, and applicability across diverse waste streams. The results are expected to help inform future decision-making for utilities in Massachusetts and beyond seeking effective, scalable PFAS solutions.

PFAS are a diverse group of synthetic chemicals widely used in industrial and commercial applications that are resistant to breakdown and increasingly subject to regulatory scrutiny. By advancing understanding of available treatment technologies in municipal wastewater systems, AECOM is helping communities identify effective strategies to protect water resources with the goal of improving environmental and public health outcomes.