374Water Inc ( NASDAQ:SCWO , FRA:8LL ) is positioning its AirSCWO technology to address demand for the permanent destruction of PFAS-contaminated filtration media as US water utilities work to meet federal drinking water standards.
The cleantech company said it is in active discussions with large engineering firms, treatment service providers, media suppliers and utilities.
It plans to serve the market through its Orlando facility and additional waste destruction hubs.
The update sent shares of 374Water nearly 6% higher in New York on Tuesday morning.
The US Environmental Protection Agency introduced enforceable limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water in April 2024, setting limits of 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and PFOS.
The EPA's final monitoring data, released in August 2026, showed that more than 10% of about 10,000 public water systems with complete results exceeded at least one PFAS limit. The figure rose to 15.5% among larger systems serving more than 10,000 people.
Granular activated carbon (GAC) and ion exchange (IX), two technologies identified by the EPA for PFAS removal, capture the chemicals but leave contaminated materials requiring further management, 374Water said.
A single mid-sized utility can generate about 80,000 pounds of PFAS-laden spent carbon annually, according to the company. The American Water Works Association has estimated that compliance will cost the water sector between $3.8 billion and $5.5 billion annually once treatment is in place.
"Every GAC and IX system that comes online between now and 2029 becomes a recurring source of PFAS-laden media," said Brad Meyers, chief operating officer of 374Water.
"Our job is to give utilities and their service providers a permanent, verifiable endpoint - destruction, not storage or transfer."
The company cited a US Army Corps of Engineers technical report authored by Arcadis, which found that its AirSCWO system at the Orlando facility achieved 99.9993% destruction and removal efficiency when treating aqueous film-forming foam across 42 PFAS species. Treated effluent met EPA limits for all regulated PFAS, the report found.
374Water said AirSCWO can also process solid waste, including spent carbon and ion exchange resin, a capability it believes differentiates the technology from other supercritical water oxidation providers.
The company has previously estimated that the Orlando facility could generate $3 million to $5 million in annual revenue at targeted operating levels, rising to $10 million to $14 million following planned expansion. The projections depend on waste mix, utilization and pricing.
