Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in water purification plants (WPPs) with advanced treatment processes

A series of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) surveys were conducted in two water purification plants (WPPs) having ozonation and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtration processes. In each plant, six different processes samples (source water, influent, coagulation-sedimentation effluent, ozonation effluent, GAC filtration effluent, and final tap water) were collected for two times and eight PFCs were measured. The results showed that seven kinds of PFCs (PFHxS, PFOS, PFHpA, PFOA, PFNA, PFDA, and PFUnDA) were detected in both plants with concentration range of 0.5–53.5 ng L−1, while the range of total concentration of all seven PFCs was 31–90 ng L−1. All detected PFCs were not removed effectively in both dates but removal was observed to some extent for certain PFCs (PFNA, PFDA, PFOS, and PFUnDA) by GAC filtration tank.