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The Water and Carbon Group, a Brisbane-based environmental engineering firm, is ramping up its US expansion plans to tackle “forever chemicals” in complex wastewaters after raising $US10 million ($14.5 million) in a round led by Swiss venture capitalist Emerald.
The new capital will be used by The Water and Carbon Group to accelerate the global deployment of its innovative PFAS treatment technology, the LEEF System, after the company made significant inroads into the US market this year.
In July, the group launched its first operational fixed plant at Bethlehem Landfill Company in Pennsylvania.
The latest capital raise has attracted Emerald as a new investor, adding to the Swiss venture capitalist’s extensive portfolio of water technology assets.
The raise also attracted investment from US-based Ecolab Inc., a global provider of water, hygiene and infection-prevention solutions and services with annual sales of US$15 billion ($21.8 billion).
The Water and Carbon Group is also backed by Australia’s Dragonfly Enviro Capital, which was founded by conservationist and biodiversity impact investor Nigel Sharp.
“The Water and Carbon Group is bringing a critical solution to the global environmental challenge of PFAS contamination,” says Emerald investment director Julien Dillon, who will join The Water and Carbon Group’s board following the investment.
“The company’s success in Australia, and now the US, shows the scalable, global potential of the LEEF System.”
PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) have been used in products such as firefighting foam, food packaging and water-repellent fabrics and are frequently referred to as “forever chemicals” due to the length of time it takes them to naturally degrade. They have been shown to bioaccumulate and pose serious health risks.
The liquid that drains from a landfill, called leachate, can contain significant levels of PFAS with The Water and Carbon Group’s LEEF System designed to intercept and remove PFAS from this leachate.
The company says the risks from PFAS have been gaining attention, with increasing levels being detected in water sources globally.
The Water and Carbon Group points to data released by Sydney Water in August showing that PFAS chemicals were detected in June at low levels in key water filtration plants such as Warragamba, Prospect Reservoir and Orchard Hills, while higher levels were recorded at the Cascade Dam in the Blue Mountains and North Richmond.
While the Sydney levels detected are within Australia’s drinking water guidelines, they are above US safety thresholds.
“The US Environmental Protection Agency has set stringent standards at four parts per trillion for the two most common PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA, in drinking water,” says the company.
The Water and Carbon Group’s Bethlehem Landfill project in the US is already making an impact with capacity to treat 378,000 litres of leachate daily, reducing PFAS to non-detectable levels and “well within” US federal limits.
“Our USA flagship project in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is built on our years of research, development and full-scale operational experience in Australia,” says Jim Hunter, the CEO of The Water and Carbon Group.
The LEEF System first proved its effectiveness in Australia in Darwin, where it has been operating for nearly two years at the Shoal Bay Leachate Treatment Plant, which is treating about 51 million litres of leachate annually.
The company says the Darwin project shows the system’s ability to address PFAS even in regions with significant rainfall.
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