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Arsenic filter wins US$1 million prize
Technology news
Filtration+Separation March 2007
11
Arsenic filter wins US$1 million prize A chemistry professor has won a US$1 million engineering prize for developing an system for filtering arsenic from well water. Abul Hussam, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at George Mason University in Washington, USA won the 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability awarded by the US National Academy of Engineering for the SONO filter, a household water treatment system that he and his brothers have been manufacturing and distributing in Bangladesh for about five years. Hussam developed the SONO filter after years of testing. The filter is simple, inexpensive and made with easily available materials. It involves a top bucket, which is filled with locally available coarse river
sand and a composite iron matrix (CIM). The sand filters coarse particles and imparts mechanical stability, while the CIM removes inorganic arsenic. The water then flows into a second bucket where it again filters through coarse river sand, then wood charcoal to remove organics, and finally through fine river sand and wet brick chips to remove fine particles and stabilize water flow. The filter has helped stop the spread of arsenic poisoning in nearly 100 villages. Arsenic contamination is prevalent in neighboring Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Arsenic poisoning is a slow, painful process that can ultimately result in cancer and death. Affected people can have difficulty working or even walking, and continued
exposure can lead to liver failure, kidney failure and the amputation of arms or legs. “The most satisfying aspect of working on this project is seeing people drinking clean water from SONO filter and feeling better, and for some, the melanosis [poisoning] has been reversed,” said Hussam. “It is truly gratifying to see results of our scientific knowledge at work in the field for the betterment of human conditions.” www.gmu.edu
Dr. Abul Hussam pours water into his SONO filter in his lab at George Mason University. Photo courtesy Evan Cantwell, George Mason University Creative Services.
Siemens ‘redefines filtration’ with disc filter Siemens has developed a disc filter incorporating pleated media that is reportedly 40% more effective than traditional woven media filters. The patent pending Spider™ Disc Filter’s pleated design captures more solids in a smaller footprint with a pleated media design, giving it operational advantages over the leading pile media systems, the company says. The Spider disc filter also offers more submerged area than any other woven filter media solution.
of solids within the matrix of the pile media. As a result, pile media devices require extensive cleaning events, down time and rinse periods, Siemens says. The Spider filter, however, has an inside/out design that eliminates these additional steps, resulting in a more economical and sustainable
operation. The inside/out flow characteristic also prevents problematic and costly overflow situations so that the filtrate is always accessible and in plain view. The filter also incorporates a spray mechanism with twice as many nozzles, which is specially designed to release these solids from the
pleated media, makes operation and maintenance easy. The filter is suitable for tertiary filtration, municipal and industrial reuse/recovery, product recovery, process water filtration and conventional filter retrofit applications. www.siemens.com
It is designed for twice the headloss of current generation woven media filters to further reduce backwash frequencies and can be retrofitted into existing applications. The minimal footprint also allows drop-in replacement of most other conventional filtration systems, Siemens says. One potential problem with the pile media design is that it can allow solids to pass through the media during high-pressure cleanings. This outside/in filtration can therefore promote an ever increasing concentration
fs4402_pg9_11.indd 11
Siemens’ new spider filter media.
02/03/2007 10:56:02
Filtration+Separation March 2007
11
Arsenic filter wins US$1 million prize A chemistry professor has won a US$1 million engineering prize for developing an system for filtering arsenic from well water. Abul Hussam, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at George Mason University in Washington, USA won the 2007 Grainger Challenge Prize for Sustainability awarded by the US National Academy of Engineering for the SONO filter, a household water treatment system that he and his brothers have been manufacturing and distributing in Bangladesh for about five years. Hussam developed the SONO filter after years of testing. The filter is simple, inexpensive and made with easily available materials. It involves a top bucket, which is filled with locally available coarse river
sand and a composite iron matrix (CIM). The sand filters coarse particles and imparts mechanical stability, while the CIM removes inorganic arsenic. The water then flows into a second bucket where it again filters through coarse river sand, then wood charcoal to remove organics, and finally through fine river sand and wet brick chips to remove fine particles and stabilize water flow. The filter has helped stop the spread of arsenic poisoning in nearly 100 villages. Arsenic contamination is prevalent in neighboring Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. Arsenic poisoning is a slow, painful process that can ultimately result in cancer and death. Affected people can have difficulty working or even walking, and continued
exposure can lead to liver failure, kidney failure and the amputation of arms or legs. “The most satisfying aspect of working on this project is seeing people drinking clean water from SONO filter and feeling better, and for some, the melanosis [poisoning] has been reversed,” said Hussam. “It is truly gratifying to see results of our scientific knowledge at work in the field for the betterment of human conditions.” www.gmu.edu
Dr. Abul Hussam pours water into his SONO filter in his lab at George Mason University. Photo courtesy Evan Cantwell, George Mason University Creative Services.
Siemens ‘redefines filtration’ with disc filter Siemens has developed a disc filter incorporating pleated media that is reportedly 40% more effective than traditional woven media filters. The patent pending Spider™ Disc Filter’s pleated design captures more solids in a smaller footprint with a pleated media design, giving it operational advantages over the leading pile media systems, the company says. The Spider disc filter also offers more submerged area than any other woven filter media solution.
of solids within the matrix of the pile media. As a result, pile media devices require extensive cleaning events, down time and rinse periods, Siemens says. The Spider filter, however, has an inside/out design that eliminates these additional steps, resulting in a more economical and sustainable
operation. The inside/out flow characteristic also prevents problematic and costly overflow situations so that the filtrate is always accessible and in plain view. The filter also incorporates a spray mechanism with twice as many nozzles, which is specially designed to release these solids from the
pleated media, makes operation and maintenance easy. The filter is suitable for tertiary filtration, municipal and industrial reuse/recovery, product recovery, process water filtration and conventional filter retrofit applications. www.siemens.com
It is designed for twice the headloss of current generation woven media filters to further reduce backwash frequencies and can be retrofitted into existing applications. The minimal footprint also allows drop-in replacement of most other conventional filtration systems, Siemens says. One potential problem with the pile media design is that it can allow solids to pass through the media during high-pressure cleanings. This outside/in filtration can therefore promote an ever increasing concentration
fs4402_pg9_11.indd 11
Siemens’ new spider filter media.
02/03/2007 10:56:02