Does an activated carbon system have to be run continuously?
No, an activated carbon system may be run in batch mode. Facilities may store wastewater prior to treatment (storage of wastewater is common in this industry). EPA observed PFPR facilities treating wastewater with activated carbon in batch mode and also performed activated carbon treatment in batch mode on wastewaters collected from PFPR facilities. In addition, PFPR facilities with wastewater matrices that vary daily may find that batches of stored wastewater may be more consistent from treatment period to treatment period.
