An Australian technology that uses air bubbles to remove PFAS from contaminated water has won the 2026 CARE Award at the 11th International CleanUp Conference in Adelaide. Developed by EPOC Enviro, SAFF (Surface-Active Foam Fractionation) removes PFAS from water before concentrating 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 into the environment.
The CARE Award, presented by crcCARE, recognises sustainable innovations in the assessment and clean-up of environmental contamination.
EPOC Enviro General Manager Jay Howland said SAFF is a sustainable approach because its operation is based on processes found in nature.
“The processes underpinning SAFF exist 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.”
A key benefit of the technology is its ability to reduce the volume of PFAS-contaminated material requiring further management or destruction.
“SAFF has the ability to not only separate PFAS from water, but to concentrate the recovered PFAS into very small volumes. This substantially reduces the amount of material that ultimately needs to be managed or destroyed.”
PFAS contamination can affect groundwater, landfill leachate and industrial wastewater. Removing PFAS from contaminated water can help site operators manage pollution and protect waterways and surrounding environments.
EPOC Enviro has deployed 50 full-scale SAFF systems across 75 sites on four continents. The systems have collectively treated more than 2 billion litres of PFAS-impacted water.
The company is now working towards larger treatment systems as demand for PFAS remediation grows and regulations tighten. Howland said the focus was on making treatment practical across a wide range of sites while considering how recovered PFAS is managed.
“I’d like people to understand that PFAS remediation is not simply about making PFAS disappear. The challenge is to sustainably separate these persistent compounds from contaminated water, where they are present in very diluted concentrations, and then manage what you’ve recovered.”
Established in 1996, the CleanUp Conference is the original and longest-running International Remediation Conference. The 2026 event marked its 30th year.
The CARE Award was presented at the CleanUp 2026 Gala Dinner earlier this month.