Cedar Rapids and ISU team up to tackle ‘forever chemicals’ in wastewater

CEDAR RAPIDS — The City of Cedar Rapids is teaming up with Iowa State University researchers to study how “forever chemicals” hold up during wastewater treatment at the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of thousands of human-made chemicals that have been used to make materials resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease and water since the 1930s. They’re often called “forever chemicals” because their molecular structures are made of strong bonds, so they don’t degrade easily. That allows them to build up and persist over time.

They can end up in the environment through treated wastewater that is discharged into waterways. They’re in the sewage waste often applied to fields, where they can infiltrate groundwater. They’re in some firefighting foams that were widely used for decades. A 2021 study found evidence of PFAS in a third of sampled waterways in Iowa.

Humans can be exposed to PFAS through their drinking water, food, consumer products and surroundings. Long-term exposure is linked to myriad negative health impacts, including cancer risks, reproductive effects, child development, hormones, immune systems and cholesterol levels.

“PFAS primarily has really been a drinking water issue,” said Cedar Rapids Utilities Director Roy Hesemann. “It really hasn't hit the radar yet on the wastewater side.”

Cedar Rapids has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for two years to study how PFAS in its waste streams may be reduced or destroyed during the treatment process, specifically as biosolids are incinerated.

The city, ISU engineering professors and Minneapolis-based consulting firm Brown and Caldwell will be taking that research a step further by evaluating other treatment processes within the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility, Hesemann said.

The team applied for funding through the State Revolving Fund. It received $3 million for a three-year study. Cedar Rapids will contribute $150,000 for consulting, research and advising services, the city council voted earlier this month.

Samples will be collected throughout several stages of the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility’s wastewater treatment process — from the raw wastewater coming into the plant to the treated water flowing out. Solids heading to the incinerator will be tested, along with the resulting ash.

Then, those samples will be analyzed for PFAS. The results will map how effective different steps of the treatment process are at destroying or reducing the chemicals. They could also guide future upgrades to the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility, including anaerobic digesters.

“Before we spend millions of dollars on the wastewater plant, I want to make sure we’re not making things worse — that we were going to make things better,” Hesemann said.

The study will likely culminate in a report. Based on those findings, the team may request additional funding for upgrades at the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facility.

“We're trying to do a good thing and figure out what to do with (PFAS) going forward,” Hesemann said.

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com