Welcome back to the Technology Update, where we give you an overview of the latest developments in the water industry!
US EPA publishes second PFAS report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has produced its second annual report on the progress on PFAS. The report details the recent advancements in PFAS removal technologies, the state of legislation on the use and production of PFAS, and the upcoming plans for the future reduction of the use of and damage done by PFAS.
The report can be found on the EPA website – PFAS report.
Direct Ocean Capture project kick-off
Energy company Equinor has partnered with Captura, a company that aims to remove CO2 directly from the ocean, aiming to store the captured CO2. The technology works by using electrodialysis to split seawater into an acid and base stream. The acid stream has a tendency to expel CO2, which is then captured. The two streams are mixed back together to neutralise, after the removal of most of the CO2.
Captura explain the process in detail on their website.
Illegal wastewater discharge (UK) continues
The UK still battles with illegal and unregulated wastewater discharge by wastewater treatment companies. The latest news story around this topic came from Welsh Water, which admitted to have illegally discharged at over 20 sites over the past years. The most serious one is a spill discharge point near a protected rare dolphin habitat, which had been spilling sewage on 1146 days since May 2018, more than 6 out of 10 days. Spills are expected to continue, with wastewater companies blaming lack of infrasctructure for the limited capacity during heavy rain.