Kemira secures EPA registration for water treatment ingredient
Kemira announced on May 28, 2025, that it has secured U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration for the foundational ingredient in its KemConnect DEX, a performic acid (PFA) based process water treatment solution.
The water treatment solution has been available for over a decade in Europe, and was recently used to help prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. As part of the Greater Paris Sanitation Authority’s efforts to make the Seine River swimmable for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the product was added as an extra treatment step at Seine Amont—the second largest wastewater treatment plant in Europe, which processes over 500,000 cubic meters of wastewater daily. Athletes competed in seven river-based events for the first time since the 1900 Paris Olympics.
“Chlorine-based solutions that have long been used to treat water are no longer the most sustainable option, as they can create potentially harmful by-products that disrupt the natural balance of receiving water bodies,” said Tuija Pohjolainen-Hiltunen, Kemira’s EVP Water Solutions, in a press release. “This EPA registration is a major step forward for us at Kemira, allowing us to offer U.S. customers a more sustainable solution—one that helps ensure water safety without leaving behind harmful by-products and that naturally breaks down within minutes.”
The company’s water treatment solution is a chlorine-free alternative to less sustainable wastewater treatment methods and is backed by powerful technology and data-driven intelligence to enhance operations and reduce energy consumption. The solution is monitored and controlled on a digital platform, which utilizes data collected from a compact on-site generator measuring influent wastewater flows, and residual PFA.
This data is then fed into the company’s proprietary algorithm to help water treatment facilities optimize the dosage of PFA for antimicrobial treatment in water, while offering more transparency and predictability to improve sustainability performance.
“Municipal water and wastewater treatment plants are forced to comply with changing regulatory requirements, while facing the impacts of climate change, a growing population and scarcity of resources,” Pohjolainen-Hiltunen said in a press release. “Studies have shown that with KemConnect DEX, our customers can automatically generate and maintain a continuous PFA residual, while keeping bacteria below the permitted limit and ensuring compliance with the latest regulatory requirements.”