Engineers at the University of Arizona received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to find ways to make drinking water safer.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are hazardous chemicals often found in water. The process most-widely used to purify water and make it safe to drink is expensive.
Reyes Sierra, professor in the department of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, says the project will seek a cheaper and easier method.
“So these types of chemicals are really difficult to degrade, to destroy chemically or biologically so our method focuses on using sorbents that we will develop in our lab to remove PFAS from the groundwater," said Sierra.
Sierra says these chemicals have been connected with causing cancer and low birth weights.
