PatIntNews

The US Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has granted exclusive rights to market the Nano-Composite Arsenic Sorbent (N-CAS) technology to Water Technology Group Inc, an affiliate of Northeast Water Solutions, Inc.

The technology is used for removing arsenic from contaminated water supplies and it's seven times more effective than present arsenic removal technologies.

The long-term exposure of arsenic has been observed to cause several serious health problems like cancer, nervous system damage and atherosclerosis (inflammation) in the arteries leading to the brain. Therefore removal of arsenic from drinking water has become the top most priority for local water authorities.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2006 reduced the maximum allowable concentration of arsenic in drinking water from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb. This decision will affect 4,000 U.S. municipalities and nearly 14 million U.S. homeowners.

According to the INL announcement, "N-CAS will provide an economical method to treat water supplies and meet these new standards."

N-CAS, a bead like resin, contains high concentrations of arsenic-adsorbing nano-particle metal oxides embedded in a strong composite polymer matrix to improve its ability to catch arsenic in contaminated water.

INL intends to make the technology available to Northeast Water as well as other water treatment companies doing arsenic remediation.