New Portable Water Treatment System Vaporizes 99% of ‘Forever Chemicals’

Some of the Aquagga team standing in front of their PFAS Destruction Unit. Credit: Aquagga

A startup based in Tacoma, Washington has devised a portable system capable of removing the vast majority of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, from water. Housed within a 10-by-8-foot corrugated shipping container, the “PFAS Destruction Unit” is already helping tackle pollution around the state.

As the health risks and ubiquity of PFAS become more apparent, scientists have increasingly sought ways to remove the persistent “forever chemicals” from water, soil, and other mediums. While they’ve made significant progress over the last few years, most PFAS removal methods are barely past the experimental stage. This means commercially available, scalable PFAS removal operations are still in demand—providing a perfect opportunity for Aquagga to swoop in and help.

Aquagga’s PFAS Destruction Unit has already earned the startup nearly $7 million in crowdfunding, angel investments, government contracts, awards, and demonstration agreements. The system uses hydrothermal alkaline treatment, or HALT, to eliminate 99% of forever chemicals from water, as documented by scientific journals like Chemosphere and Environmental Science & Technology Letters .

The PFAS Destruction Unit. Credit: Aquagga

After the PFAS Destruction Unit has been supplied with contaminated water, it heats that water to 570 degrees Fahrenheit and applies roughly 25 megapascals of pressure. The system then creates a caustic environment by adding caustic soda, otherwise known as lye. After just 10 minutes in these harsh conditions, the molecular bonds that comprise PFAS break apart, separating carbon from fluoride. While the PFAS Destruction Unit captures carbon as-is, it combines fluoride with calcium or sodium to make harmless salts, which can be removed and used to create toothpaste, dietary supplements, and more.

Aquagga recently returned from Alaska’s Fairbanks International Airport, where its system treated 20,000 gallons of water contaminated by PFAS-heavy firefighting foam, also called AFFF. The PFAS Destruction Unit successfully reduced the pool down to 1,000 gallons of foam; although “weather conditions and technical difficulties” forced the startup to pause operations, it’ll soon return to the airport to finish the job.

Opportunities for Aquagga to shrink water and soil pollution are abundant. The startup’s website points to AFFF, which is frequently stored on military bases, airport grounds, and in landfills following fires or fire readiness training, as one prevalent use case; industrial runoff, often found near manufacturing sites, presents another. Aquagga is working on creating even smaller versions of its PFAS Destruction Unit to deploy short-term or periodically at these locations.