POWERTECH WATER — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase I: NIEHS

Description

Project Summary Abstract PowerTech Water PTW intends to demonstrate the use of inverted capacitive deionzation i CDI technology to target the removal of heavy metals lead Pb in particular from drinking water Heavy metals such as lead and copper can enter the water distribution system due to corrosion of pipes and fittings contaminating drinking water The US Environmental Protection Agency EPA established The Lead and Copper Rule in to limit exposure of these elements and set action levels to ppm ppb and ppm for lead and copper respectively The water crisis that occurred in Flint Michigan last year is an unfortunate case that shows how important it is to ensure lead is below the action level in drinking water Point of use POU solutions for lead removal include chemical precipitation coagulation ion exchange and reverse osmosis RO all of which have arduous regeneration steps and or require costly maintenance to replace materials PTWandapos s solution offers a low cost low maintenance reversible adsorption technology that can target metals removal More specifically using unique surface chemistries to impart selectivity to the carbon anode metals can reversibly adsorb and desorb from solution using PTWandapos s patented i CDI process that provides stability and pH control during operation The specific aims of this Phase I grant application include Demonstrating functionalization of carbon based anodes with soft base ligands to induce specificity for metals adsorption Determining the minimum metal concentration in tap water allowed to maintain an adsorption selectivity andgt over non metal divalent ions Project Narrative The goal of this proposal is to develop an affordable and widely adoptable solution to remove toxic metals lead Pb in particular from drinking water To achieve this a novel anode that is capable of preferentially removing metal ions from water using PowerTech Waterandapos s patented inverted capacitive deionization i CDI process will be demonstrated If successful this technology will provide a practical and efficient method for removing metals from drinking water