Human exposure to per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water is of growing concern as a result of increasing reports of occurrence and potential regulation. Adsorption of PFAS by granular activated carbon (GAC) or ion exchange (IX) resin is a suitable treatment technique. However, few studies compare PFAS removal in continuous flow GAC or IX adsorption systems using real drinking water sources. In this study, rapid small‐scale column tests (RSSCTs) were used to investigate the effects of PFAS type and chain length on adsorption by GAC and IX resin for six groundwaters used as drinking water supplies. Seven PFAS substances with chain lengths of C4–C9 were detected in the groundwaters with the sum of their concentrations (ΣPFAS) ranging from 156 to 7,044 ng/L. Adsorption capacities (qΣPFAS) were calculated to compare the removal capacity among different sorbents and qΣPFAS values ranged from 10.3 to 228 ng PFAS/mg sorbent after about 100,000 bed volumes treated. Coal‐based GACs had higher adsorption capacity compared with coconutshell‐based GAC, which was likely due to higher mesopore and macropore volumes. IX resins performed better than GAC in removing PFAS, but they were not effective in treating short‐chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (PFCAs). Perfluorosulfonic acids (PFSAs) broke through later than PFCAs with the same chain length. Within PFSA or PFCA classes, shorter‐chain PFAS species always broke through before longer‐chain PFAS. Statistical analysis demonstrated that PFAS with higher hydrophobicity and molecular weight are more amenable to GAC adsorption. Empirical models were developed and predicted PFAS breakthrough. By quantifying PFAS selectivity and removal efficiency, this work provides benchmark data for commercially available treatment technologies and guidance toward specific PFAS classes for which new treatment technologies may be most beneficial.

General rightsCopyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

No abstract

No abstract