Can Utilities Finally Destroy PFAS at Scale?

OC San and 374Water begin utility-scale testing to destroy PFAS on site, signaling a potential shift away from capture-and-dispose strategies

16 Jan 2026

At a wastewater plant in southern California, a public utility is trying to do something most of its peers still avoid: destroy “forever chemicals” rather than ship them elsewhere. The Orange County Sanitation District (OC San), working with a firm called 374Water, has begun a utility-scale test of a system meant to break down PFAS on site. The aim is modest but telling, to see whether six tonnes a day can be reliably eliminated.

For years the water industry’s response to PFAS has been removal, not resolution. Filters and adsorption media pull the chemicals out of water, lowering concentrations and meeting regulatory limits. Yet the pollutants do not disappear. They accumulate in spent carbon, resins or sludges that must be hauled away for disposal or further treatment, shifting the risk, and the political headache, downstream.

OC San’s demonstration explores a different trade-off. Its pilot system, known as AirSCWO Nix6, uses extreme heat and pressure to break complex PFAS molecules into simpler end products. Instead of exporting a concentrated waste, the utility hopes to neutralise it where it is made. The equipment was built and mobilised in 2025. Commissioning and performance testing are now under way. This is not yet a commercial rollout, but a proof of concept at scale.

If the technology works as advertised, it could appeal to utilities weary of rising disposal costs and community resistance to PFAS landfills and incinerators. On-site destruction might reduce long-term liability and regulatory exposure. But the hurdles are obvious. High-intensity treatment systems demand heavy upfront investment, skilled operators and constant monitoring. Regulators, too, will want clear evidence that destruction is complete and by-products are harmless.

That explains the industry’s caution. PFAS destruction remains the exception, not the rule. Utilities are watching closely, weighing technical risk against the comfort of familiar, if imperfect, removal methods. Transparent testing and independent verification will matter as much as engineering success.

Still, the symbolism counts. A large public utility is lending its name, and its infrastructure, to an experiment many have discussed but few have attempted. Should the Orange County trial deliver consistent, verifiable results at a tolerable cost, it may nudge the water sector towards a tougher but cleaner answer to forever chemicals.