Validate treatment technologies, optimize system design, and generate the regulatory-grade data needed to de-risk full-scale PFAS remediation — before committing at scale.
A pilot study eliminates guesswork — delivering real-world performance data from your specific site’s water chemistry, flow conditions, and regulatory environment before capital is committed at scale.
Access brochureAccurately forecast media lifespan and replacement costs before full-scale investment. Avoid costly technology mismatches driven by incomplete water chemistry data and prevent frequent, expensive changeouts from poorly matched system selection.
Confirm whether GAC, ion exchange, or alternative media effectively removes PFAS from your specific source water — with documented, defensible field evidence rather than lab assumptions.
Determine the most efficient media type, flow rate, empty bed contact time (EBCT), and vessel configuration for full scale — minimizing both capital and long-term operating costs from day one.
Track contaminant breakthrough to understand true media capacity under field conditions. Detect media fouling, pressure changes, or competing constituent interference early, and expose seasonal variation before full-scale commitment.
Generate the performance data required for regulatory approval of permanent systems. Document compliance with current and anticipated PFAS concentration standards and produce data packages ready for engineering review and submission.
Birchtech’s RSSCT Design Center and analytical process verifies performance through pilot testing, lab analysis, and operational modeling — ensuring every system meets defined contaminant removal targets before deployment.
Birchtech’s pilot skid is purpose-built to replicate full-scale operational conditions — so the data you collect translates directly into accurate system design and cost projections.
Precise, continuous monitoring and control of flow rates throughout the pilot run — eliminating measurement uncertainty from your performance dataset.
Column diameters matched to anticipated full-scale vessels and operational flow rates, minimizing wall effects and ensuring representative performance data at any scale.
Accommodates GAC, ion exchange resins, catalytic carbon, and alternative filtration media types — enabling direct side-by-side performance comparison under identical conditions.
Configurable pretreatment stages replicate full-scale conditions, accounting for turbidity, iron, hardness, and competing constituents specific to your source water.
Full column-compatible design is easily transportable — allowing deployment directly at the treatment site or in a lab setting for controlled side-by-side testing.
Designed for straightforward column venting and backwashing — minimizing operational complexity and reducing demands on site personnel throughout the pilot period.
Custom column diameters match any-sized media while minimizing wall effects — critical for ensuring pilot-scale data accurately predicts full-scale column behavior.
Scope a pilot for your utility — typically deployed within 30 days.
Every pilot produces actionable intelligence with the documentation trail needed for full-scale system permitting.
Review of source water chemistry, PFAS contaminant profile, and site-specific regulatory requirements to configure the pilot skid appropriately.
The portable pilot skid is deployed on-site. Columns are loaded with selected media types and placed into service with pretreatment matched to your water conditions.
Digital flow totalizers track performance continuously. Monthly reports document breakthrough curves, pressure profiles, and media capacity data in real time.
A comprehensive deliverable with media lifespan predictions, lifecycle cost modeling, full-scale system recommendations, and regulatory-submission ready documentation.
Birchtech SMEs analyze data monthly — identifying performance trends, fouling indicators, and emerging compliance concerns before they become system-level problems.