Protect Communities by Removing, Averting PFAS in Drinking Water

Which do you prefer: spring or purified water? Maybe it’s mineral? Or perhaps you prefer to skip the bottled stuff and drink straight from the tap. However you drink your water, sparkling or flat, from a plastic bottle or recycled glass, it is likely contaminated with forever chemicals known as Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. In 2025, businesses across America have one important goal: Eliminate PFAS from our drinking water.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in April of 2024, “finalized a critical rule to designate two widely used PFAS – Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and Perfluoro octane sulfonate (PFOS) – as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).” This discretionary policy “makes clear that EPA will focus enforcement on parties who significantly contributed to the release of PFAS chemicals into the environment, including parties that have manufactured PFAS or used PFAS in the manufacturing process, federal facilities and other industrial parties.” This rule took effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register, and state agencies, such as the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, began prohibiting PFAS-treated products on January 1. Public water systems must publicly report on the level of PFAS in their drinking water in 2027, and by 2029, must implement proven solutions that reduce those monitored levels.

This legislation aims to protect Americans: their health, their safety, their well-being. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances are a class of forever chemicals introduced in the 1940s, made popular for their properties that repel water, dirt and oil. Accordingly, they have been used in any number of household, consumer and personal goods. That trusty umbrella and non-stick pan, as well as paints, pizza boxes, soap, shampoo and firefighting foam – many of the things used daily release thousands of chemicals down the drain, into bays and reservoirs, and back into the drinking water. The risks of consuming them? Reduced fertility, congenital disabilities, childhood obesity, early puberty, thyroid issues, liver damage, higher cholesterol, and an increased risk of various cancers are just some of the maladies current studies forewarn. Access to clean drinking water is not just an issue we donate money to solve abroad – it is a pressing matter right here on our own doorstep.

At the same time, this legislation taxes a broad swathe of businesses, facilities, and municipalities that did not create this problem themselves but must resolve it soon or risk legislative penalty. Stakeholders in the water, industrial wastewater, consumer goods and food manufacturing industries face demands to revolutionize their business practices.

Since their resilient carbon-fluorine bonds make these chemicals impossible to break down and given that dozens of everyday products persist in their use, eliminating PFAS from the water supply can seem daunting. But Haskell’s market leaders have developed and proven solutions that help communities and businesses clean up environmental water supplies and achieve the EPA’s regulatory goals.

“We have absolute familiarity with various treatment technologies – from Reverse Osmosis to Ultraviolet and more – and how to best apply them to ensure that drinking water is safe,” said Bryan Bedell, Vice President and Haskell’s Water Market Leader. “Nothing about this space is unfamiliar to us.”

Adjusting Filtration Technology to Your Standards

While removing PFAS chemicals from water is arduous and complex, the EPA’s strict deadline allows businesses and municipalities little time to act. People want to know, and they want to know now: is the water my family and I drink safe? Here, the very nature of Haskell’s company model provides the benefits necessary to help owners answer such questions.

Among the first integrated architecture, engineering, and construction firms nationwide, Haskell’s collaborative delivery method drives speed-to-market solutions. Where traditional design-bid-build prolongs the timeline of a project and often erects communication barriers, Haskell’s full suite of in-house capabilities means that all project needs are met by one team within the same four walls. With experts in everything from budgeting to quality, sustainability to preconstruction, scheduling to safety and more, Haskell’s 2,500-plus team members collaborate efficiently and effectively to walk clients through their best options and then realize those options before their eyes. For clients facing a stringent timeline, demanding regulatory environment and complex industrial processes, Haskell offers a quick, comprehensive and impactful response.

“As communities become aware of the PFAS issue, they want to address it quickly and safely,” said Matt Williams, Haskell’s Director of Business Development in the Water Market. “The best way to do that is by partnering with a firm that can resolve their issues comprehensively. While typical design-bid-build lengthens this process, our collaborative delivery model provides speed of solution, and our feedback helps clients pick the right technology to meet their goals within budget and timeline constraints. There are plenty of treatment options out there, and Haskell helps clients find what’s right for them.”

For one Florida-based water supplier, Haskell applied a highly oxidizing process reliant on intense ultraviolet (UV) light and granulated activated carbon (GAC) vessels to remove multiple constituents through one consolidated filtration process. For another utility company, the microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) systems that Haskell installed not only removed the PFOS from the water but nitrogen and phosphorous, too. For yet another client, Haskell fitted deep sand bed filters on the back of its wastewater plant to remove PFAS constituents long before the EPA’s mandate. What do all of these projects have in common? A positive membrane technology is key to separating harmful chemicals out of water and wastewater tankards.

Extensive experience with the full spectrum of water filtration equipment and their distinctions allows Haskell to advise clients on the optimal methods to remove PFAS and many other harmful chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has given businesses nationwide a mandate, but what the government cannot account for is the individual client’s concerns surrounding budget, maintenance, supplies or resources. Compliance need not be homogenous – every project has its own unique demands. Haskell addresses each project uniquely and holistically, understanding that one size does not fit all.

A Two-Pronged Approach for PFAS Solutions

The EPA guidance addresses municipalities’ water and wastewater facilities directly, but the problem goes deeper. After all, water providers were not the original polluters. PFAS chemicals have made their way into drinking supplies from large reservoirs to remote mountain streams after their release in contaminated industrial and consumer products used daily. Haskell’s experience as an integrated firm serving a wide range of markets – from municipal water to industrial clients in the food, beverage, consumer packaged goods markets and beyond – informs and demonstrates its ability to eliminate PFAS chemicals that already pollute the water and prevent emissions before they wreak harm.

In one such case, a leading food and seed oil producer has engaged Haskell to replace its Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) fire suppression systems, which contain PFAS chemicals, across 10 manufacturing sites. The project involves a meticulous approach tailored to each location, beginning with feasibility studies to assess specific needs at each site. The project requires the removal of old tanks, the installation of new ones, and modifications to support the green, fluorine-free foams (FFF) that the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council endorses as a sustainable alternative.

“Everyone is going to have to transition to these new foams, sooner or later,” said Kevin Clay, Haskell’s Lead Engineer for Fire Protection. “Clients will want to partner with a firm that has experience doing this kind of work to get them through that transition as efficiently and as painlessly as possible. Haskell has that understanding. We can manage complex, multi-phased projects without disrupting operations, helping clients move into the future without asking them to compromise in the present.”

As Haskell responded quickly to offer the client effective alternatives free of environmental risk, the project expanded to become a cross-disciplinary collaboration involving engineering, design and construction. The team will not only eliminate PFAS from the fire suppression systems but also align with global trends toward more sustainable, environmentally conscious practices.

“Haskell can burn both ends of the candle,” Bedell said. “We provide front-end solutions by deterring the release of PFAS chemicals into the environment, but recognizing these constituents have long since been a part of our world, we also assist clients on the back end with filtration technologies that stop the chemicals from reaching people through their drinking water.”

In service to its clients, Haskell has more than 100 Sustainability Accredited Professionals, and its water teams are committed members of the American Water Works Association and Water Environment Federation in over 15 states, tracking the latest PFAS research from scientists and researchers. Contact us for tailored solutions to your community or business’s management of forever chemicals.