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Water treatment technologies for complex challenges

Chromafora combines water analysis, treatment expertise and a range of proprietary and established technologies to identify an effective treatment approach for your specific contaminants, requirements and operating conditions.

Different water streams.
Different treatment requirements.

 

PFAS and other contaminants can vary significantly between water matrices, as can treatment objectives, operating conditions and existing infrastructure. Chromafora assesses these factors to help identify the most appropriate technology or combination of technologies for each application.

From standalone technologies to full treatment trains, Chromafora combines complementary treatment approaches to target the contaminants that matter most, while balancing treatment performance, residual waste and long-term cost.

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Treatment technologies

Chromafora’s portfolio combines proprietary and established technologies for treating complex water streams across PFAS and metals applications. Each technology has different strengths, operating characteristics and optimal applications, and can be used independently or as part of a wider treatment train. 

SELPAXT 
Advanced PFAS removal

For the most demanding PFAS challenges – including long-, short- and ultra-short-chain compounds – SELPAXT combines proprietary chemistry with ultrafiltration, concentrating PFAS into a residual stream as small as 0.1% of the treated volume.

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EXPLORE SELPAXT

PFAS Flocculation
A simpler way to remove PFAS

For highly contaminated, complex water such as landfill leachate, flocculation offers a practical, lower-cost route to PFAS removal – up to 95%, using equipment your team already knows how to run.

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EXPLORE FLOCCULATION

SELMEXT 
Selective metal extraction

SELMEXT selectively separates metals from water and hydrometallurgical process streams – removing what's unwanted, recovering what has value. Current development spans gold, uranium, scandium and mercury.

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EXPLORE SELMEXT

We can also offer...

Not every water stream needs a purpose-built selective technology. For simpler polishing needs – or where a conventional method is genuinely the right fit – we also provide granular activated carbon (GAC), ion exchange (IX) and reverse osmosis (RO) systems, either standalone or as a polishing step after SELPAXT or flocculation.

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC)

A familiar, well-proven adsorption technology for long-chain PFAS – well suited as a polishing step after a primary PFAS-selective treatment stage.

EXPLORE GAC

Ion Exchange
Resins (IX)

Higher-selectivity adsorption media that can improve removal of certain short-chain PFAS – offered standalone or integrated into a broader treatment train.

EXPLORE IX

Reverse Osmosis (RO)

Broad-spectrum membrane treatment that rejects PFAS alongside salts, metals and organics – best suited where a plan for the resulting concentrate is already in place.

EXPLORE RO

Which technology fits your water?

 

Chromafora's portfolio spans PFAS removal, heavy-metal removal and value-metal recovery. What the right technology looks like depends on your contaminant, your water chemistry, your discharge target – and whether there's a resource in the water worth recovering. The table below summarises how our core technologies, and the additional technologies we also offer, compare on the factors that matter most in complex water streams such as landfill leachate and industrial process water.

Technology

What it targets

Residual waste

Sensitivity in complex leachate

Best fit

Other benefits

SELPAXT

PFAS – long, short & ultra-short chain (up to 99.7% removal demonstrated)

Very low – as little as ~0.1% of treated volume

Low sensitivity to TOC and pH swings

High-strength, complex leachate; demanding or tightening discharge limits

Auto-regeneration and remote monitoring; compact, containerised systems integrate into existing trains

PFAS Flocculation

PFAS – long- and short-chain (up to 95% removal)

Moderate – dewatered sludge for disposal

Can be used to pre-treat high-DOC water

Cost-sensitive sites; pretreatment ahead of a polishing step

Also removes heavy metals and other contaminants; doubles as a pretreatment stage

Reverse Osmosis

PFAS – broad-spectrum removal across chain lengths

High – 15–30% concentrated reject stream

Prone to fouling from salts, metals and organics

Sites with an established plan for concentrate destruction

Rejects virtually all dissolved contaminants alongside PFAS – salts, metals, organics and pathogens

Ion Exchange Resins

PFAS – long-chain; improved removal of some short-chain PFAS

Low media volume, but regeneration can generate brine/secondary waste

Fouls with high chloride and organic loading

Polishing step, or simpler matrices with lower fouling risk

IX platforms are also widely used for nitrate, arsenic and other anionic contaminants in water treatment generally

Granular Activated Carbon

PFAS – long-chain; limited affinity for short- and ultra-short-chain PFAS

Spent carbon requiring replacement/incineration

Reduced adsorption efficiency in high-DOC matrices

Polishing step, or simpler streams dominated by long-chain PFAS

Also adsorbs other organics, such as VOCs and taste-and-odour compounds

SELMEXT

Metals – unwanted heavy metals and recoverable value metals (not a PFAS technology)

Low – selective separation limits the material removed from the water

Chemistry and process adapted to the target metal and water matrix

Metal-bearing process streams – mining, hydrometallurgy and industrial effluent

Recovers valuable metals (e.g., gold, uranium, scandium) for reuse – turning a waste stream into a resource

 

Technology insights

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Press release Jan 20, 2026
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