PFAS Water Remediation Patent Landscape 2026
PFAS Water Remediation Patent Landscape in 2026
PFAS water remediation is in a confirmed growth phase, with the field still expanding on a multi-year basis and annual filings rising through the most recently complete years. The competitive structure is moderately concentrated, with Evoqua Water Technologies holding the lead position, but a cluster of specialist challengers is narrowing the gap.
Evoqua leads a moderately concentrated field of specialist innovators
These five leaders together account for 35% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a moderately concentrated but competitive landscape.
A clear tier gap separates the top five from the next cohort — The Water & Carbon Group, Specialty Minerals Michigan Inc, and CoreWater Technologies each hold between 20 and 24 patent families. Below that, a long tail of academic institutions, startups, and environmental consultancies holds single-digit counts, keeping the field open to new entrants.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evoqua Water Technologies LLC | 83 | |
| 2 | Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies Inc | 63 | |
| 3 | Claros Technologies Inc | 58 | |
| 4 | Revive Environmental Technology LLC Columbus | 43 | |
| 5 | Cyclopure Inc | 36 | |
| 6 | THE WATER & CARBON GROUP | 24 | |
| 7 | Specialty Minerals Michigan Inc | 21 | |
| 8 | CoreWater Technologies Inc | 21 | |
| 9 | Aqua-Aerobic Systems Inc | 20 | |
| 10 | Battelle Memorial Institute | 20 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | OPEC Remediation Technologies Pty Ltd | 19 | |
| 12 | Oxytec LLC | 18 | |
| 13 | Eminus LLC | 15 | |
| 14 | Northwestern University | 12 | |
| 15 | Gradiant Corp | 11 | |
| 16 | Stride | 11 | |
| 17 | Cornell University | 11 | |
| 18 | HALEY & ALDRICH | 9 | |
| 19 | George Alexander Ivey | 9 | |
| 20 | Membrion Inc | 9 |
The leaders’ positions reflect sustained commercial investment in full-cycle water treatment processes. Their dominance of C02F (water and wastewater treatment) filings signals that core remediation chemistry and process engineering remain the primary battleground, while adjacent separation and adsorption approaches are being prosecuted aggressively by challengers.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are under-represented due to standard patent publication lag; headline totals should be treated as a floor rather than a ceiling for current activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filings have accelerated sharply since 2020, anchored in water-treatment process chemistry
The annual filing trend and the technology branch breakdown together reveal both the pace of competitive entry and the dominant technical approaches defining the field.
Annual filing trend
Filings were modest and relatively flat from 2017 to 2019, then surged from 2020 onward, with the recent multi-year window showing 96% growth. The 2025 and 2026 bar heights are suppressed by publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown; the underlying filing pace as of the most recently complete years remains elevated.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) dominates the branch mix, reflecting the field’s primary focus on process-level interventions. B01J (chemical and physical processes, including adsorption) and B01D (separation processes including filtration and membranes) are the next largest branches, confirming that sorbent materials and membrane separations are active secondary routes. Smaller but notable clusters appear in B09C (soil and contaminated land reclamation) and B03D (flotation), indicating meaningful investment in non-aqueous and physical separation approaches.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Fluorous modification of commercial resins for ult…
The invention is directed to modified resins containing perfluoroalkyl ethyl moieties that are capable of removing PFAS species from solutions, including water sources. Resin bases are modified with perfluoroalkyl ethyl moieties in a one-step modification, resulting in modified resins incorporating the perfluoroalkyl ethyl moieties via strong covalent… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Composition and method for capture and degradation… | 63 |
| 2 | Soil and water remediation method and apparatus fo… | 53 |
| 3 | Sustainable System and Method For Removing And Con… | 48 |
| 4 | PFAS treatment scheme using separation and electro… | 39 |
| 5 | Soil and water remediation method and apparatus fo… | 39 |
| 6 | Systems and methods for degrading per- and poly-fl… | 35 |
| 7 | Method and System for Purifying Water Using Photoc… | 35 |
| 8 | Destruction of PFAS Via an Oxidation Process and A… | 33 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
Four structural dimensions — maturity, concentration, collaboration, and geography — together define the risk and opportunity profile for teams entering or expanding in this space.
Growth stage: annual filings still rising
The lifecycle evidence classifies PFAS water remediation as a Growth-stage field, with annual filings still rising and the most recent years understated by publication lag. A 96% increase in the recent multi-year window confirms the field has not plateaued. This means foundational process patents are still being filed, and freedom-to-operate landscapes are actively shifting — early movers in novel destruction or capture routes can still secure broad claims.
Growth stageModerate concentration with an active challenger tier
The top five filers hold 35% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output — moderate rather than tight concentration. The tier immediately below the leaders (roughly 20–24 patent families each) is populated by companies with distinct technical differentiation: flotation specialists, polymer sorbent developers, and membrane innovators. This structure rewards specialisation over broad portfolio replication and leaves room for a focused entrant to rank among the top ten within a few filing cycles.
Moderate concentrationBattelle Memorial Institute anchors the most active co-filing partnerships
The most active documented co-applicant relationships involve Battelle Memorial Institute filing jointly with both New Jersey Institute of Technology and Revive Environmental Technology LLC Columbus, each collaboration producing two co-filed patent families. This pattern suggests that applied research institutions are bridging academic destruction chemistry and commercial deployment. Teams seeking to enter via university licensing or collaborative development should monitor these institutional nodes.
Institutional co-filingUS-centric prosecution with meaningful PCT and EPO coverage
The United States is the dominant prosecution jurisdiction, followed by WIPO PCT and the European Patent Office. Australia and Canada represent material secondary markets, consistent with those countries’ regulatory push on PFAS in drinking water and groundwater. China and Japan together account for only a small number of records, suggesting the field has not yet attracted large-scale Asian incumbent investment — a potential indicator of future competitive entry or current licensing exposure in those markets.
US-led, global reachGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Battelle Memorial Institute | New Jersey Institute of Technology | 2 |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | Revive Environmental Technology LLC Columbus | 2 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Evoqua and Emerging Compounds lead on volume; Claros is the fastest-rising new entrant
The top two applicants are accelerating filing pace significantly, while the third-ranked player entered
Evoqua Water Technologies LLC
Evoqua holds 83 patent families and is filing at a trajectory of +108% in the recent period versus the prior three years, signalling sustained and accelerating investment. Their technology emphasis is concentrated in C02F 1 (water and wastewater treatment processes), with a secondary focus on B01J 20 (adsorption materials). This combination — process engineering plus sorbent chemistry — reflects a vertically integrated product strategy spanning capture to treatment.
83 patent familiesEmerging Compounds Treatment Technologies Inc
Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies holds 63 patent families and is accelerating at +145% in recent filings, the fastest growth rate among established holders. Their portfolio is anchored in C02F 1 and extends strongly into B01J 41 and B01J 49 (ion-exchange and related chemical processes), pointing to a focused strategy in selective ion-exchange removal — a technically distinct route from Evoqua’s broader process approach.
63 patent families| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Evoqua Water Technologies LLC | 54 | ▲ +108% |
| Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies Inc | 27 | ▲ +145% |
| Claros Technologies Inc | 39 | ▲ new entrant |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | 21 | ▲ +24% |
| Cyclopure Inc | 7 | ▼ -76% |
| Revive Environmental Technology LLC Columbus | 18 | ▲ new entrant |
| THE WATER & CARBON GROUP | 9 | ▼ -36% |
| Specialty Minerals Michigan Inc | 4 | ▼ -75% |
Under-served routes in soil reclamation, flotation, and biopolymer sorbents
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant C02F core are relatively sparse relative to overall corpus size; two in particular combine low patent density with plausible technical value and identifiable entry paths.
B09C · Soil & contaminated land reclamation
With 85 records and a 4% share of IPC classifications, B09C is the most populated of the lower-density branches — but it remains thin relative to the scale of soil and sediment PFAS contamination documented at industrial sites globally. The entry path is technically adjacent for teams with in-situ remediation chemistry experience: novel stabilisation agents, reactive barrier materials, or thermal desorption sequences applied to soil matrices. Regulatory pressure on contaminated land is intensifying in the US and EU, providing a commercial pull that the current patent activity has not yet matched.
Search this in Eureka →B03D · Flotation
Flotation-based PFAS separation (55 records, 3% share) is an under-served branch with a defined technical rationale: PFAS compounds are surfactants and concentrate at air-water interfaces, making foam fractionation and dissolved-air flotation scientifically well-grounded capture mechanisms. The Water & Carbon Group and OPEC Remediation Technologies are the primary current practitioners (visible in their B03D 1 sub-class filings), leaving significant room for entrants with optimised bubble-generation or collector-chemistry innovations. The entry path is accessible for teams with existing water-treatment hardware capabilities.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants diverge across core treatment routes
Strength of each leader across the main technology routes.
| Player | C02F 1 · Water & wastewater treatment | C02F 101 · Water & wastewater treatment | B01J 20 · Chemical/physical processes & catalysis | C02F 103 · Water & wastewater treatment | C02F 9 · Water & wastewater treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evoqua Water Technologies LLC | Strong · 82 | Moderate · 19 | Emerging · 12 | Absent | Emerging · 11 |
| Claros Technologies Inc | Strong · 58 | Moderate · 24 | Absent | Moderate · 27 | Emerging · 8 |
| Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies Inc | Strong · 64 | Moderate · 17 | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 3 |
| Battelle Memorial Institute | Strong · 35 | Strong · 19 | Moderate · 8 | Emerging · 7 | Moderate · 11 |
| Cyclopure Inc | Strong · 36 | Moderate · 11 | Strong · 19 | Moderate · 8 | Absent |
| Revive Environmental Technology LLC Columbus | Strong · 27 | Strong · 24 | Absent | Emerging · 4 | Moderate · 6 |
| The Water & Carbon Group | Strong · 24 | Moderate · 9 | Absent | Moderate · 8 | Strong · 16 |
Frequently asked questions
The current corpus covers 924 patent families. This figure is a floor: filings from the most recent 18–24 months are under-counted due to standard patent publication lag.
Evoqua Water Technologies LLC leads with 83 patent families, ahead of Emerging Compounds Treatment Technologies Inc (63 families) and Claros Technologies Inc (58 families).
Yes. The lifecycle evidence classifies the field as Growth stage, with annual filings still rising and a 96% increase recorded over the recent multi-year window. The 2025 and 2026 data points are suppressed by publication lag and do not represent a real slowdown.
The United States is the leading jurisdiction, followed by WIPO PCT and Europe (EPO). Australia and Canada are the next most active, consistent with strong domestic PFAS regulation in those markets. China and Japan together account for only a small share of records.
C02F (water and wastewater treatment) dominates the technology mix. B01J (chemical and physical processes, including adsorption) and B01D (separation processes including membranes and filtration) are the next largest branches, followed by B09C (soil reclamation) and B03D (flotation).
The most technically grounded under-served branches are B09C (soil and contaminated land reclamation, 85 records) and B03D (flotation-based separation, 55 records). Both have clear scientific rationale for PFAS capture but remain sparse relative to the overall corpus size and the scale of the contamination problem they address.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. PatSnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.