Mining Client, PFAS Water Treatment Plant

SciDev designed, constructed, and operated a water treatment plant (WTP) capable of treating 260ML of PFAS contaminated water for re-use at a confidential site in Western Australia.

The mine site produced low level detections of Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS). A permanent treatment, disposal and discharge solution was required to ensure any PFAS affected operational water is not released to the environment and will provide the most practical and economical use of the water to operate at site.

This PFAS water treatment plant is the only plant in Australia that can treat to the 99th percentile level of protection under the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council ANZECC guidelines for discharge to the environment. The strict guidelines were in place due to the site being close to Perth’s Drinking Water Catchment.

Commissioned in November 2020, the PFAS water treatment plant has treated a cumulative total of over 1 billion ML to date, with all water treated down to the lowest level of reporting, without a single detection above 0.0002ug/L sum of total PFAS.

Summary

• Treated 260ML of PFAS contaminated water in six months.
• Only PFAS water treatment plant of this scale in Australia treating to beneath the 99th percentile level of ecological protection under the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Guidelines (ANZECC) for discharge to the environment.
• The plant’s construction and commissioning were completed in less than 40-days from the contract award to meet operational requirements on site.
• The water treatment plant is required to operate 24/7 and process 2.5ML/day.