PFAS Sorption Based Technologies for Separation & Concentration of PFAS from Water Training

Removal of PFAS from water has become an important concern for water utilities; landfill operators; industry professionals; and state, local, and tribal decision makers. Sorption-based technologies, specifically granular activated carbon, ion exchange resins, and foam fractionation have proven to be effective solutions in this area, but choosing the most suitable sorption-based method or system configuration can be daunting. To aid treatment practitioners, the ITRC PFAS team published a technical guidance document titled "Sorption-based Technologies for Separation and Concentration of PFAS from Water" (Section 18 of PFAS-1). This training module is intended to assist in using the information presented in this document by providing an overview of the central topics along with easily digestible summaries of critical information.

This training will be crafted for an audience with some basic understanding of PFAS and that has likely already attended the PFAS 101 training and the ITRC PFAS Beyond the Basics: Fate and Transport, Site Characterization, and Source ID training.

Resources and further details for the topics included in this training are available in the ITRC PFAS-1 guidance document, specifically in Sections 12 and 18.

Learning objectives:

• Review operating principles of sorption-based technologies.
• Understand how site conditions and treatment objectives influence technology selection.
• Become familiar with testing methods (from foamability tests to isotherm tests to full-scale demonstration tests) used to verify treatment effectiveness, optimize performance, and compare technologies.
• Identify water quality parameters that may adversely affect sorption-based technologies and the available pretreatment methods to address them
• Learn how test data can be combined with cost and sustainability information to select a specific technology or system configuration.

Levi Haupert, Ph.D., United States Environmental Protection Agency
Levi Haupert is a physical scientist working in the US EPA’s Office of Water. Levi has over 10 years of experience in drinking water treatment and decontamination of drinking water systems. His current scientific interests include wildfire-associated contamination of drinking water, transport of contaminants in polymers, and drinking water treatment using activated carbon and ion exchange resins with a focus on PFAS removal. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Purdue University.

Rich Evans, GES
Rich Evans is senior vice president of engineering/technical functions and provides senior technical support and manages GES’ corporate technical functions team that includes engineering, hydrogeology, air quality, small unmanned aircraft systems, and data management and visualization. He also leads GES’ Quality Program, Construction and Remediation Initiative, and Emerging Contaminants team and is a member of GES’ corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) team.

Andy Harris, P.E., Calgon Carbon Corporation
Andy Harris is a Senior Applications Engineer with Calgon Carbon Corporation and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Wisconsin with 28 years of experience in the environmental industry. He is responsible for assisting consultants and end users with the evaluation and selection of activated carbon products for various applications. Throughout his career, Mr. Harris has gained technical expertise in the areas of soil and groundwater remediation and water and wastewater treatment system design. He has conducted and overseen a multitude of bench- and pilot-scale evaluations for various treatment technologies for both municipal and industrial water treatment applications. Mr. Harris is a contributing member of the ITRC PFAS team and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Environmental Engineering.

Jason Hnatko, Allonnia
Jason Hnatko is the Engineer Manager for Emerging Contaminants at Allonnia whose mission is to solve the world's toughest environmental challenges. Jason leads the SAFF team tasked with implementing foam fractionation to remove PFAS from aqueous matrices. At Allonnia he has led numerous foam fractionation bench tests, nine field pilot tests, and three permanent SAFF installations. Jason holds a PhD and MS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Tufts University and a BS in Biological and Environmental Engineering from Cornell University. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has more than 15 years of environmental consulting and research experience, primarily in the investigation and remediation of PFAS and bioremediation of chlorinated solvents. His research focused on chlorinated ethene biodegradation and microbiology, including the impact of PFAS on dechlorinating microorganisms. He has previously served as a technical expert for the investigation and remediation of PFAS contamination at numerous sites.

Mahsa Shayan, PhD, PE, P.Eng., Geosyntec
Dr. Mahsa Shayan is a Principal at Geosyntec Consultants and a PFAS subject matter expert specializing in fate and transport evaluations, site investigation, and treatment selection and optimization. With more than 18 years of combined academic and consulting experience, she has a broad understanding of soil and groundwater treatment technologies, as well as the technologies focused on separation, concentration, and treatment of PFAS in drinking water and industrial wastewater. Dr. Shayan’s work bridges pilot- and field‑scale system evaluation, laboratory treatability testing, and numerical modeling, enabling her to guide clients through the full technology selection process from preliminary screening and pilot testing to lifecycle cost assessment and sustainability evaluation. She has supported federal, state, and industrial clients in selecting treatment approaches that integrate performance metrics, O&M requirements, waste/residuals management, and site‑specific constraints. Her experience includes leading PFAS response actions, supporting drinking water mitigation programs, and developing decision documents. Dr. Shayan is an active contributor to the ITRC PFAS Team and the SAME Environmental Community of Interest (COI) and PFAS Industry-Government Engagement initiative, regularly presenting on PFAS fate and transport, regulations, technology evaluations, and PFAS data interpretation. Her project leadership spans major federal programs (AFCEC, NAVFAC, USACE), as well as industrial and municipal clients. She holds professional engineering licenses in both the U.S. and Canada and is recognized as an International Professional Engineer (IntPE). Her work has been published in conferences and prestigious journals, and she has served as a reviewer and technical committee member for several national remediation conferences, including Battelle, RemTEC, JETC, and AEHS.

Dora Chiang, Ph.D., P.E., Jacobs
Dr. Dora Chiang is Global Principal for PFAS and emerging contaminants at Jacobs. She has 25 years of consulting experience and has multiple global practice leader and technical director roles throughout her career to develop and manage company’s internal PFAS programs for PFAS resource building and training. Since 2012 she has collaborated with universities and clients to investigate the nature and extent of PFAS, develop and demonstrate innovative solutions that monitor, manage, separate, concentrate, and destroy PFAS. Dora is invited speaker at national and international conferences, author of peer-reviewed journal articles and an editor of “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Treatment Technologies” book published by the Royal Society of Chemistry, principal investigator (PI) of multiple US DOD funded PFAS technology development projects, and the trainer of Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) PFAS team.

Moderator:

ITRC Training Program (itrc@itrcweb.org)

• These materials will be available by Tuesday, April 7, 2026

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• These materials will be available by Tuesday, April 7, 2026

Additional Resources:

• These materials will be available by Tuesday, April 7, 2026

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It is EPA's policy to make reasonable accommodation to persons with disabilities wishing to participate in the agency's programs and activities, pursuant to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 791. Any request for accommodation should be made to ITRC Training Program at 202-266-4932 or itrc@itrcweb.org, preferably one week or more in advance of the webinar, so that EPA will have sufficient time to process the request. EPA would welcome specific recommendations from requestors specifying the nature or type of accommodation needed. EPA welcomes specific recommendations from requestors specifying the nature or type of accommodation needed. Please note that CLU-IN provides both alternate phone call-in options and closed captioning for all webinars, and requests for these specific accommodations are not necessary.

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