I’m sure most of you have heard of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but in case you haven’t, these are the carcinogenic and endocrine disrupting molecules made famous for their use in the production of Teflon (the 2019 movie Dark Waters provides great context!). Dealing with PFAS is particularly difficult because these molecules don’t degrade in the environment—which is what earned them the nickname “forever chemicals”. That means that even though we can use activated carbon to get PFAS down to parts-per-trillion (ppt) levels, the carbon used to capture that PFAS will eventually become saturated with PFAS, and then that PFAS-containing-carbon needs to be disposed of properly (by blasting it in a furnace) and replaced with fresh carbon. Anyways, thanks to some regulation that passed last year, water utilities are now required to either a) reduce PFAS to ppt levels by 2029, or b) face fines for failing to do so. But while the cost of those fines will be at least partially offset by those billion dollar class-action settlements with 3M, Chemours, Dupont, and Corteva, someone still has to put up the capital to build and operate PFAS-treatment facilities. In the case of investor-owned utilities (IOUs), such as the one Veolia operates in Delaware, that capital will be provided by Veolia and returned to Veolia by charging customers more. All they need to do now is get a water bill increase approved by the Delaware Public Service Commission, which they will do because the law now requires PFAS removal. I’m curious to see how this plays out since only ~10% of the US is served water by IOUs, the rest are municipalities that will be more reliant on taxes and bonds for raising the capital needed to make these plants a reality. I suppose that means it will happen faster in populated wealthy areas (such as Orange County, which is also getting a new PFAS-treatment plant) and slower elsewhere.