Contamination has been one of the forefronts of healthy business practice. After all, how are you to continue research or business if the population in and around are exposed to conditions worse than the Romans experienced? From aqueducts to sophisticated filtration systems, mankind has continued to push the boundaries towards cleaner, and safer, methods of filtration.
Water, for example, has a plethora of methods associated with removing contaminants. If groundwater contamination is not an issue, citizens have opted for small filtration systems attached to their faucets. This provides a quick and cheap method for filtering when it is not necessarily an issue, more of a peace of mind.
However, contaminated groundwater needs a far stronger and robust water treatment system that the average faucet filter just is not up for the task of doing. Without proper protection, groundwater can lead, not only to polluted water, but contaminated food because it is common for farmers to use groundwater to irrigate crops. This is a serious health risk when you consider that over 80 percent of sites that harbor hazardous waste have one time or another nearly, or completely, destroyed the quality of nearby groundwater deposits. It is made worse when an estimated 70 percent of industrial waste gets tossed into nearby bodies of water, only to then contaminate the usable water supply. The cherry on top is the fact that half the people in the United States rely on drinking nearby groundwater deposits, which accounts for 95 percent of the United States fresh water source. Continuous contamination of water further shrinks the 1 percent of water that is actually suitable for drinking.
One of the many offenders under the umbrella of contaminations are PFAS, alternative known in its long form as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances. With this particular contamination hosts a plethora of methods of PFAS remediation: adsorption, bio-remediation, chemical oxidation, chemical reduction, electrochemical oxidation, incineration and thermal treatment and the list goes on. PFAS remediation has no one best method and in many cases several PFAS remediation techniques are used one after the other if the contamination proves to be incredibly stingy and elusive. However, it is better to be safe than sorry when considering only 3 percent of the water on Earth is actually freshwater. Preserving as much clean water as possible is just good business.
