Delaware scientists use iron to remove viruses from water
The target of new EPA regulations, viruses are mainly invulnerable to chlorinization; elemental, non-valent iron destroys 99 percent of E. coli, rotavirus, and others; inexpensive filtration method relies on the byproduct of iron and steel production
We might call it the Mike Tyson of water filtration systems. Promising a “knock-out punch” to a host of notorious pathogens — including E. coli and rotavirus — University of Delaware researchers have unveiled an inexpensive, nonchlorine-based technology that uses highly reactive iron to remove harmful microorganisms from drinking water. “What is unique about our technology is its ability to remove viruses—the smallest of the pathogens—from water supplies,” said professor Pei Chiu. This is important not just for broad public health reasons, but also because viruses are the target pathogenic microorganisms in the new Ground Water Rule under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Act, which took effect on 8 January.
“A serious challenge facing the water treatment industry is how to simultaneously control microbial pathogens, disinfectants such as chlorine, and toxic disinfection byproducts in our drinking water, and at an acceptable cost,” Chiu noted. Yet viruses are often difficult to eliminate in drinking water because they are much smaller organisms than bacteria and are resistant to chlorinization. “By using elemental iron in the filtration process, we were able to remove viral agents from drinking water at very high efficiencies. Of a quarter of a million particles going in, only a few were going out,” Chiu noted. The process is also relatively inexpensive, with the zero-valent iron used widely availble as a byproduct of iron and steel production and costing less than 40 cents per ton.
-read more in this university news release
