Environmental
High Capacity Arsenic Resin
Related Patents: 6514566 ; 6,602,418 ; 7,807,606 ; 7,947,861 ; 7,368,412 ; 8,043,586 ; Patent Pending
Contact: David R. Anderson
Phone: (208) 526-0837
E-mail: Send E-mail
The EPA has recently set a new drinking water standard for arsenic. The new standard, which becomes effective in 2006, reduces the MCL for arsenic from 50 to 10 micrograms/liter. A novel resin technology has been developed by combining hydrated metal oxide nanoparticles with a polymer to form beads for use in a bed or cartridge. Very high loadings of the metal oxide have been achieved, resulting in an inexpensive composite with an active adsorption surface area of approximately three hundred square meters per gram (300 m2/g) of resin. Preliminary testing has shown the material to have very high equilibrium loadings for arsenic at the low concentration ranges typically found in groundwater. It has also been shown to maintain selectivity for oxy-anion and neutral arsenic species in the presence of potentially competing anions. This material is especially applicable to removal of indigenous arsenic contamination from drinking water, but would also have application for treating and remediating contaminated waters resulting from industrial activities such as mining. Primary benefits of this high capacity arsenic removal resin would be removal of arsenic contamination in potable water supplies. This material could be used in a single pass operation, wherein the material would be loaded with arsenic to maximum capacity and then disposed in a landfill, since it is anticipated that arsenic loaded resins will meet the Toxicity Characterization Leaching Procedure (TCLP) criteria. Resins can be incorporated into municipal water treatment systems; used as a disposable cartridge on private wells; or on drinking water faucets in private residences. While disposable, the resins can also be regenerated with alkaline solutions and re-used if this is deemed a more economical approach. This nano-composite arsenic sorbent, N-CAS, has been licensed to Water Technology Group, Inc. (WTG), 39 Westcott Rd., Harvard, MA, 01451. Inquiries regarding the commercial availability of N-CAS should be directed to WTG's Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Jack Boyles. He can be reached at 401-737-4070, ext. 137 or jboyles@nwsi.net.