Ion Exchange Resin

UMI-2000 has supplied Ion Exchange Resin to one of the toughest Chemical Manufacturing applications in the USA for the past quarter century.
Analytical Requirements For Resin Selection:
The more of these parameters we have, the better advice we can give to identify the Ion Exchange Resin you need:
1. TDS, and/or Conductivity
2. pH
3. Calcium
4. Magnesium
5. Sodium
6. Potassium
7. Alkalinity
8. Chloride
9. Sulfate
10. Nitrate
11. Silica
12. Temperature range expected (if outside of typical 50-80F range)
13. Presence of any known contaminants and effluent limits (turbidity, oil, BOD, COD, TOC, iron, manganese, phosphate, etc.)
14. Hardness (or Calcium + Magnesium in mg/L or grains per gallon).
15. Specific Application e.g. Deionization & Water Softening, High Purity Water, Heavy Metals Removal, PFAS Removal from Drinking Water.

The Growing Need for PFAS Treatment with Ion Exchange Resins:
The documented performance of ion exchange (IX) resins for treating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) offers new opportunities for more practical solutions in many applications. As water utilities and design firms evaluate treatment alternatives, and are being challenged by the space, cost, and time to install and implement solutions for PFAS, IX is showing its ability to reduce capital and operating costs compared to the conventional granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment approach. A recent report by the Environmental Working Group cites the latest statistics on PFAS reach into everyday American life drinking water systems serving an estimated 19 million people, in at least 610 locations across 43 states are known to be contaminated with one or more of the thousands of known PFAS compounds. Based on their widespread use
across various industries, it is no surprise that many of these sites are associated with military bases, airports, industrial/chemical facilities, and firefighter training locations. The EPA has established a health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) of combined PFAS compounds in drinking water due to links with cancer, developmental
effects, liver damage, thyroid issues, and more. Recently, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry proposed a more aggressive recommendation of 7 ppt for PFOS and 11 ppt for PFOA.

A number of influent water parameters can therefore be expected to impact the sorption efficiency for a specific PFAS compound. These include pH, ionic strength, the nature and concentrations of organic co-contaminants present including naturally occurring organic matter [NOM], competing inorganic ions normally present (for example sulfate, nitrate, bicarbonate, and chloride), and any suspended solids or potentially precipitating impurities (for example, iron, manganese, calcium carbonate) that can foul and degrade the performance of the media. Pretreatment steps may be necessary to optimize the performance of such media, including coagulation, precipitation, filtration, pH adjustment, or oxidant removal. Ion exchange media used for PFAS removal from water use both the adsorption and ion exchange mechanisms. The use of two or more different media in series can be considered if the expected increase in overall removal efficiency can be used to justify the increased equipment cost.

The City of Stuart FL IX Resin Project:
The Stuart FL job allowed the resin providers to put a foot of carbon as the first layer of the media. The water has a high organic content, so the thinking was the carbon would protect the resin. The vessels had sample ports at 25%, 50%, and 75% levels of the bed. Total bed height was limited to 5 feet. Calgon used a foot of F-400 and then 4 ft of resin Evoqua used 5 feet of Dow PSR2 resin. ResinTech used a foot of AGC-30-CS-AW carbon over 4 ft of PFAS Selective resin. Purolite used a foot of organic scavenging resin over 4 ft of PFAS resin. Our coconut shell carbon, which we acid wash and pH buffer in, outperformed the Calgon F-400 coal based carbon. Big surprise to everyone. The Purolite setup performed the worst.