46 -- Water Purification

An Economical System for Removal of Arsenic from Drinking Water Sandia National Laboratories has developed an economical and easily implemented process for removing arsenic from drinking water (U.S. patent 6,821,434). The United States Environmental Protection Agency recently lowered the arsenic standard for drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10 parts per billion, with the regulation to take effect in 2005. The Sandia process is based on using off- the- shelf technology and an inexpensive, readily available chemical sorbent, which has already been approved and is being used in treatment processes for drinking water. The Sandia process is based on the use of magnesium oxide for sorbing arsenic from drinking water. Magnesium oxide is an inexpensive mineral approved for use in drinking water treatment processes. It is commonly used for water pH adjustment and water softening. In small-scale water treatment processes at Sandia, one-half gram of magnesium oxide added to a liter of water reduced arsenic levels from 250 parts per billion to 4 parts per billion in only two minutes. Once the arsenic has been sorbed by the magnesium oxide, it can be removed by conventional processes such as filtration, air flotation, or centrifugal separation. The used sorbent containing the sorbed arsenic meets all regulations and passes EPA leaching tests for sanitary landfill disposal. The Sandia process is very economical. Magnesium oxide only costs a few cents per pound. A tank for mixing the magnesium oxide with the drinking water and a separator are all that is needed. If desired, the water pH can be adjusted using chemical treatment or air sparging to make the water more palatable. Air sparging is a common process used for adjusting drinking water pH in large city and small communities throughout the country. Sandia is seeking partnerships with industry for commercialization of this technology which may include commercial licensing opportunities. Assuming commercial licensing opportunities are pursued; licensees would have the opportunity to request, up to and including, an exclusive license to Sandia’s IP in a pre-negotiated, defined field of use for reasonable compensation. For further information, please respond by email or fax to Colleen Kearney within 30 days of this announcement at: Sandia National Laboratories, MS 1380, P. O. Box 5800, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1380. [email protected] or Fax: (505) 844-8011. Please indicate the date, number and title of this FBO notice and the type of partnering agreements your company would be most interested in entering into.