Removal of emerging perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate contaminants from lake water

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are the major polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) contaminating global water environment. This study investigated the efficiency of granular activated carbon (GAC), ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) treatment for removing PFOS and PFOA contaminants from lake water. NF gave greater removal of all contaminant types (in terms of organic matter, PFOS and PFOA) than GAC treatment which in turn was greater than UF treatment. The lower removal by UF was due to larger pore size of the membrane compared to the size of the target contaminants. For all treatment processes, lower pH (4) in the feedwater showed greater rejection of the organics and selected PFASs. This was likely due to increase in the electrostatic repulsion between solute and sorbent. It could be observed that on increasing the concentration of organics in the feed solution, the rejection of PFOA/PFOS decreased which was due to competition between organics and PFOS/PFOA for binding sites on the membrane/activated carbon surface. It was also noted that protein content led to greater influence for lower rejection of the PFOA/PFOS than carbohydrate or DOC content. This study demonstrated the potential use of membrane processes for removing emerging persistent organic pollutant removal from lake water.