Associate Professor K. J. Reddy of the Department of Renewable Resources of the University of Wyoming has discovered that laboratory-produced cupric oxide particles can purge highly poisonous arsenic species from contaminated water to a level far below that mandated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards that take effect Jan. 23, 2006, Newswise reported.
The finding has resulted in a licensing agreement between the University and Arsenic Removal Technologies, Inc. (ARTI) to commercialize and market the process, which is already being pursued by several other water companies. ARTI is a subsidiary of a technology transfer company based in Plant City, Fla., according to Newswise.
While other techniques have been able to remove only the less toxic arsenate species of arsenic, Reddy’s technique also eliminates the more lethal arsenite from water. The filtering procedure was developed about 15 months ago, after three years of research while Reddy was actually investigating ways to remove selenium from water.
Source: Newswise