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, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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