Point-of-Use Water Treatment Module for Trace Harmful Species

Increasing occurrence of cyanotoxin-producing harmful algal blooms represent a global problem and pose a significant ecotoxicological threat to humans, animals, and fish. Cyanotoxins are a diverse group of chemicals that represent a significant effect through dermal contact, consumption of fish from contaminated sources, and drinking contaminated water. While water treatment facilities can generally handle these toxins, rural or isolated communities, backpacking, and extreme surge events can lead to toxins ending up in drinking water. Mainstream Engineering will develop a scalable whole house and single point-of-use (POU) water treatment system that combines an adsorbent and advanced oxidation process into a single drop-in device that can capture and remove cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins such as microcystins (MCs), nodularins (NODs), and anatoxin-a (ATX). In Phase I, we develop a proof-of-concept device and demonstrate capture and destruction of MC, NOD, and ATX in drinking water and then mixed with contaminants as validated by standard EPA methods. The adsorption and destruction kinetic information will be used to develop and size the device, and in Phase II, we will build and validate a prototype AWTS.