SBIR Phase I: Regenerable Adsorbent Filter for Water Purification

The broader impact / commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is to offer a low cost solution to purify water for reuse applications with higher effectiveness and superior performance than currently available technologies. The global water scarcity, including some parts of the US such as southwest, has led to a strong need for efficient technologies to treat wastewater for direct or indirect potable reuse. Current technologies such as carbon filters and chemical oxidation, have limited efficiency and are expensive for the removal of trace organic contaminants from wastewater for water reuse. To address this unfulfilled need, this project seeks to develop a low cost, reusable filter unit for water purification to remove and destroy hazardous organic contaminants. No secondary waste products or harmful byproducts will be produced in the purified water. The proposed technology is expected to be used by entities conducting industrial wastewater and groundwater treatment, and wastewater utilities that have a focus on water reuse. The objective of this Phase I research project is to develop this low cost, reusable filter technology for water treatment. Specifically, the project will evaluate and demonstrate: (1) long term stability and performance of the new filter media involving a novel coated sand adsorbent (2) the non-biodegradability of the filter material, and (3) the robustness of the regeneration process. The work will confirm the stability of this new adsorbent media for multiple (>100) regeneration cycles. The project will also seek to demonstrate the stability of the adsorbent from bacterial attacks and if necessary, develop methods to prevent biodegradation. Applicability of the adsorbent to treat industrial wastewater, municipal wastewater and groundwater will be tested, and pretreatment steps will be identified if needed. The limitation of the technology with regard to certain specific organics will be determined. The following contaminants, at trace levels, are the initial target of this technology: 17beta-estradiol (representative of estrogenic hormones); bisphenol-A (used in plastics); ibuprofen, mepbromate and iopromide (pharmaceutical); and atrazine (pesticide).