29 May 2019 (Portland, ME)
Portland, Maine (May 28, 2019) – ECT2, a global leader in cutting-edge solutions that mitigate the impact of emerging contaminants in air/vapor and water, announced today that its regenerable ion exchange resin system, which sustainably removes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water to non-detect levels, has received a US patent. The system, now the only patented regenerable system on the market, provides a sustainable solution to PFAS remediation by reusing the treatment media and substantially reducing waste generation.
ECT2’s President/Co-founder Steve Woodard and Director of R&D Mike Nickelsen are the inventors of the treatment system (Patent No. 10,287,185 B2). According to Woodard, “Mike Nickelsen and I developed ECT2’s anion exchange system in response to the inability of the available technology to treat the full range of PFAS in water without using large quantities of treatment media and creating large amounts of concentrated PFAS wastes, for which disposal is expensive.”
PFAS are a group of compounds resistant to heat, water, and oil, and have been used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications and products for several decades. They remain in the bodies of wildlife and humans for extended periods of time, and laboratory tests on animals have demonstrated damage to the processes of reproduction and development, as well as the liver. US Environmental Protection Agency issued health advisories for PFAS in drinking water supplies in 2016.
To date, most conventional PFAS treatments have not effectively removed PFAS from water. One such treatment, granular activated carbon, has been effective in removing longer-chain PFAS compounds but has struggled to remove the short-chain compounds. Conventional anion exchange systems have been more effective on both long- and short-chain PFAS compounds, but the resin must be disposed of when it becomes saturated with PFAS.
ECT2 has treated well over 1 billion liters (265 million gallons) of PFAS-contaminated water to below drinking water standards. For example, ECT2’s regenerable ion exchange resin system has been in operation for over one year at Former Pease AFB Site 8. As a result, 17.9 million gallons of highly contaminated PFAS groundwater have been removed to non-detect PFAS levels and reinjected back into the aquifer.
About ECT2
ECT2 is a recognized global leader in the development of engineered solutions for the removal of emerging contaminants, including PFAS, from water and vapor. Using its synthetic resin technologies, ECT2’s systems, including its proprietary regenerable resin system, provide up to 20 times higher capacity than granular activated carbon at lower cost and a fraction of the waste volume.
