Master’s student Ignacio Martin Ceballos has been working with Dorner’s lab, the Industrial Chair on Drinking Water at Polytechnique, to compare PFAS in the raw source water to PFAS in treated drinking water in the Greater Montreal area.
The research, which has not yet been peer reviewed, found that the St. Lawrence is contaminated with forever chemicals and that conventional water treatment isn’t removing them.
“What comes in is what comes out,” Dorner said.
That’s in line with a recent federal report that concluded most PFAS is not removed by most conventional water treatment processes and requires advanced technology, such as granular activated carbon.
The good news is that the PFAS levels Dorner’s lab found in the raw water supply all met Health Canada’s objectives.
But as long as the chemicals continue to pollute the environment, there’s a concern they will accumulate.
“These are very persistent compounds,” Dorner said.
“If the focus can be put more on the upstream aspect of it, reduction at source … It’s better for everyone downstream.”