How to Get PFAS Out of Drinking Water—and Keep It Out

Once the filter is full of PFAS and other unwanted materials, Poler says he can regenerate it by using a special fluid to chemically attract those contaminants out. “I’ve done hundreds of cycles; there’s no performance degradation,” he says.

The organization’s tests have found that common pitcher filters from brands such as Brita and Berkey do not all remove PFAS equally well. But some do an excellent job, based on EWG’s tests, including the pitcher filter system made by Epic Water Filters, a US-based firm.

The recovered PFAS would ideally then be sent for processing, to once and for all break those carbon-fluorine bonds and dispose of the material safely. Poler has identified companies in North Carolina that he says could do this. The process would require energy to heat and pressurize the PFAS. The alternative, Poler says, is to risk those compounds

In less than a hundred years since their invention in 1934, humanity has bestrewn planet Earth with PFAS chemicals. Manufacturers have stuffed them into cleaning fluids, frying pans, and clothes, among other products. Now, practically anywhere you look, you’ll find traces of PFAS littering the environment. From Mount Everest to Antarctic Penguins a

“We still don’t have good disposal recommendations for spent treatment media,” she says. It is possible to break PFAS compounds down, though, at extremely high temperatures, even as high as 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,730 F). Some researchers are currently exploring how chemical additives such as granular activated carbon could reduce the amount of he

Practically everyone now has PFAS in their body, adds Stoiber. But your risk of exposure varies depending on where you live. Military bases and their vicinities are notorious hot spots, generally because of the PFAS in foams used to put out jet fires.

While there are some very effective water filter products on the market, says Stoiber, many people still throw spent filters in the trash, which means they ultimately end up at landfill sites where the PFAS can leach out into the environment again.

There are three main ways of removing PFAS from water—reverse osmosis, activated carbon filtration, and ion exchange. Reverse osmosis involves forcing water through a semipermeable membrane, which encourages contaminants to separate out from the water. Activated carbon, meanwhile, adsorbs contaminants as water passes through the filter.

Poler has op