The LIFE FOUNTAIN project has the purpose of realizing a PFAS treatment plant based on Functionalized Magnetic Sponges for PFAS absorption. One of the demonstration activities consists of the testing of the PFAS treatment plant in the Gaser TC premises to treat the groundwater (affected by PFAS pollution) used in its plating lines and, then, to treat the industrial wastewater obtained as the result of the plating process.
Gaser TC premises was selected for the well, considering that the aquifer in many areas of Vicenza province is polluted by PFAS and there is the need to remove such contaminants before the use of water, even for industrial needs. In Italy, the realization of a drilled water well must be authorized by local authorities through a long bureaucratic process.
In 2021, Gaser TC submitted to the local administration an authorization request to dig a well to draw groundwater for industrial use. Unfortunately, in July 2023 the authorization was denied, so Gaser TC can’t access to groundwater affected by PFAS pollution and, consequently, it will not be able to run the demonstration activities in its premises.
After evaluating different options, the Consortium proposed to change the site for the drilled water well.
Thankfully, the Grant Management Services of the European Commission gave a positive feedback to our request.
So, we are glad to welcome a new partner in the LIFE FOUNTAIN Consortium!
The new member is EREDI DI BONACINA MARIO SRL (ErediBon), placed in Caravaggio (Bergamo); belonging to Gruppo Gaser, ErediBon is specialised in zinc and zinc-nickel plating of mechanical parts.
In its premises an industrial metallization plating line is already provided with water coming from a drilled water well.
Consequently, Eredi di Bonacina Mario will be responsible to run the demonstrator treatment plant in order to treat the water from the existing well and to remove PFAS prior the use of such water in the existing plating lines. The concentration analyses of water directly from the existing well, after treatment with FOUNTAIN technology and at the end of plating lines, in combination with in-situ monitoring, will confirm the capability of FOUNTAIN technology to eliminate PFAS from polluted waters.