LANXESS’ ion exchange resin for mobile water treatment unit for PFAS removal

Specialty chemicals company LANXESS has equipped the first mobile plant of De Watergroep for the removal of PFAS from water with its Lewatit TP 108 DW ion exchange resin. The fully modular water treatment unit is located in the region Brussels, Belgium, and can purify up to 190,000 liters of drinking water per hour.

Since May 2024, the Belgian company De Watergroep has been operating the containerized water treatment plant on site. It will be used for at least two years, after which the plan is to switch to alternative water sources with lower PFAS levels. The objective is to permanently reduce the PFAS contamination of drinking water in Flanders to below 50 ppt and thus increase the quality of the water.

“Together with our customer De Watergroup, our Lewatit TP 108 DW ion exchange resin has been installed to remove PFAS from drinking water. The system meets the latest standards in drinking water treatment technology and achieves outstandingly low levels of PFAS in the filter effluent compared to other technologies. Modular systems for drinking water treatment are also a solution for the treatment of drinking water worldwide,” says Bjoern Dinges, Application Technology Manager at LANXESS.

The system is installed directly in the drinking water pipe. With a PFAS concentration of 80 ppt, the water supplied is still below the limits. To achieve a long service life, pre-filtration is used. The chlorine is removed before the IEX filters, i.e. the ion exchangers, and is re-dosed after it has passed through. LANXESS will support the project for two years and continuously record the process and performance data.

De Watergroep is the largest water supply company in Flanders, Belgium. More than 1,600 employees ensure that 177 municipalities in West and East Flanders, Flemish Brabant and Limburg are supplied with water via a network of more than 34,000 kilometers.