Stevens technology removes arsenic from drinking water
HOBOKEN, N.J. — Excessive arsenic in drinking water presents a major health hazard to millions of people in the United States and abroad. Arsenic, a carcinogen, is known to cause cancer and other serious health problems over time. Fortunately, engineers at Stevens Institute of Technology are on the leading edge of technology that can solve this insidious problem.
The Center for Environmental Engineering at Stevens has created patented technology for safely and effectively removing arsenic from drinking water. This technology has been developed on a large scale for water treatment plants and remediation sites, and on a low-cost, family-size scale for developing countries in crisis such as Bangladesh.
Stevens developed the Stevens Direct Coprecipitation Filtration process, successfully used in the United States for the removal of arsenic from contaminated groundwater and surface water since 1997. The DCF units can be installed in public water treatment plants as well as in groundwater remediation projects.
With changes in acceptable arsenic levels expected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, applications for this technology are likely to expand considerably in the 21st century in the United States. Congress has required the EPA to finalize a new standard by 2001. The expected change will have a major impact on the nation’s water treatment plants and individual water wells throughout the country. Heightened awareness in countries worldwide also will likely lead to more widespread use of both large and small-scale technologies developed by Stevens.
In Bangladesh, naturally occurring arsenic leaches into aquifers in high concentrations, threatening the health as many as 70 million people who drink well water. Stevens is currently working to help the Bangladeshi government provide low-cost, family-sized filtration systems to everyone in that country who needs them.
MetalFilter, a new company under development at Stevens, is bringing the Stevens technologies to commercialization. For more information, contact Cass Bruton-Ward at the number near the top of this release, or Dr. George Korfiatis, professor and director of Stevens’ Center for Environmental Engineering at (201) 216-5326.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research. The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.
Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts. Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world. Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.
