After evaluating the various treatment technologies that factored time-critical pressures and complexity of the impacted water, Arcadis recommended an Australian developed, new and innovative treatment process for the project. In a process that would normally take several months, the Arcadis team designed, built, permitted and commissioned the water treatment plant within 5-weeks, and began full-time treatment operations of the plant. Simultaneously, Arcadis developed a propriety method of decontaminating the sewer system, allowing our client to reopen the sewer and allow normal operations of the facility to resume.

Multiple teams worked on-site 24 hours per day treating more than 15 million liters of highly contaminated waste containing high levels of PFAS that would have otherwise been discharged to the environment. The team needed to think innovatively and work quickly using current and in-development PFAS treatment technologies to decontaminate the infected water and site infrastructure. Agile work methods were required from everyone on the project to ensure success, with treatment and the associated design and construction process completed in real-time with readily available equipment and supplies.  Analytical techniques for PFAS were continuously refined by the laboratories which meant that Arcadis completed the pilot testing and commissioning without visibility of the laboratory results. It was a truly unprecedented fast-moving challenge that required unique expertise and teamwork under immense pressure. 

Problem-solving on this scale called on Arcadians from all over the globe to apply their expertise in devising a lasting solution for the PFSA Australia problem. Teams from Australia, the UK and the US worked together, collaborating with a Tasmanian-based technology partner Evocra to develop a unique solution to meet this challenge. 

The innovation applied to the PFAS water treatment plant treatment process utilizing existing Arcadis research and further collaboration with Evocra, was one of the fastest and most innovative programs the Australian Restoration team has worked on to date. The successful approach to decontaminating the PFAS impacted site can also be used to treat other PFAS impacted sites around the world thanks to breakthrough research and development of sustainable decontamination and remediation processes that was accelerated for the cleanup. 

Importantly, the innovative methods and data developed by Australian and global Arcadian teams throughout the project has helped position Arcadis as a global leader in PFAS treatment and assessment fields ensuring a sustainable and efficient approach to these types of chemical leaks should they occur in the future in natural environments across the globe.