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Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by philips on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @12:04PM (#21193741)
Can someone recommend a consumer water testing kit that covers things like this?
Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by LeifCarrotson on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @12:46PM (#21194204)
No, you can't test for PFAS with consumer kit, it's dangerous at 70 parts-per-trillion levels and is tricky to handle without contamination. The test itself is expensive, too. I'm in the part of Rockford, Michigan contaminated by Wolverine/Hush Puppies/Caterpillar shoe leather tannery scraps, and they've paid Rose & Westra GZA to send techs to my house every 6 months. A friend just outside the supposedly affected area paid $300 to have a test performed, which came back with <5ppt (to my house's 35-45ppt).

And that's just one possible issue. You can't feasibly test for every possible exotic contaminant.

In my case, however, a pair of 48"x10" granular activated carbon filters (with auxiliary sediment filters, water softener, and UV light) have proven completely effective at removing PFAS from my water.

Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by rsync on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @03:29PM (#21196168)
"In my case, however, a pair of 48"x10" granular activated carbon filters ..."

Are those backwashing filters with a head unit that contains a pump ? What level (micron) of filtration does just that unit achieve ?

Just curious ...

Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by LeifCarrotson on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @11:24PM (#21199720)
No pump, just passthrough. I don't believe they provide any filtration, just reaction mass/catalyst. I can take a picture tomorrow if you're curious.
Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by skeptical900067 on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @12:58PM (#21194341)
Those sound like big filters. Where are they installed, and how often do you replace? Or is that just pitcher volume?
Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by LeifCarrotson on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @11:26PM (#21199726)
They're in my unfinished basement. Culligan (on Wolverine's dime) handles the service, had one replacement in almost 2 years. They just disconnect,install refurbished units, and bring my old ones back to contain the chemical waste and repack with fresh carbon.
Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by hadlock on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @01:44PM (#21194888)
Typically the filter is a tube with connectors on end. Most soda fountain machines have a pair of inline 36" x 6" filter for activated charcoal and water softeners mounted on the wall somewhere.
Re:Firefighting foam leaves toxic legacy in Californians’ dr... by Scoundreller on Tuesday October 08, 2019 @12:32PM (#21194053)
The problem with tests is that they look for what you know to look for at one point in time.

If you’re going to go down that road, better to just get carbon filter and R/O filtering setup.