econews.com.au
Australian invention wins prestigious award for using bubbles to tackle PFAS pollution worldwide
An Australian technology that is helping clean up PFAS-contaminated water worldwide has won the 2026 CARE Award at the 11thInternational CleanUp Conference in Adelaide. Established in 1996, the CleanUp Conference is the original and longest-running International Remediation Conference and celebrated its 30th year in 2026. Developed by EPOC Enviro, SAFF® (Surface-Active Foam Fractionation) removes PFAS from water using air bubbles. It then concentrates the recovered chemicals into a small volume of liquid for further management or destruction. The treated water can then be reused and is often discharged back to the environment. The award, presented by crcCARE, recognises sustainable innovations in assessing and cleaning up environmental contamination. EPOC Enviro General Manager Jay Howland said the SAFF® solution to managing PFAS is uniquely sustainable because it is based on nature. “The processes underpinning SAFF® exists in nature; we observed how rising air bubbles in a body of water create foam. We looked to the brilliance and simplicity of nature, and we mimicked this in our engineering designs.” Mr Howland said another key benefit of the treatment was reducing the amount of PFAS-contaminated waste left to manage after treatment. “SAFF® has the ability to not only separate PFAS from water, but to...