MICRONIC TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: Large areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed support intense agricultural operations includ

Description

Large areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed support intense agricultural operations includingcrop farming, large poultry production facilities (LPPFs), and confined animal feedingoperations (CAFOs). Increasingly, these agricultural operations add significant amounts ofpollutants, from water run off into the watersheds, and infiltrate the groundwater. For example,the Shenandoah Valley has suffered from years of agricultural operations and livestockproduction causing increased nitrates and phosphorus in the groundwater. Typically, elevatedlevels of nitrates, nitrites, phosphorus, and arsenic among others, are found, causing watershedfish kills and impact to public health in myriad ways.Micronic Technologies has developed, MicroDesalTM, a patented low-pressure, low-temperature,rapid-evaporation technology, to treat contaminated water, including these dangerous contaminants. Preliminary MicroDesalTM testing indicates effective removal of heavy metals andother contaminants, including phosphorous, arsenic, nitrates, and bacteria. For example, thetechnology reduced phosphorous to less than 0.03 mg/L from 2.0 mg/L, nitrates to .40 mg/l from446.1, and nitrites to 0.4 mg/L from 27 mg/L.The proposed SBIR Phase I research objective is to validate reliability and reproducibility of theseinitial test results by reducing highly contaminated water pollutants to below EPA drinking waterstandards, through a robust testing regime. Phosphates, nitrites, nitrates, arsenic, heavy metals, and other agriculturally related pollutants from surface runoff water into the Chesapeake Bay, willbe tested over two seasons. Micronic will obtain samples from four strategic watershed locationsthat are representative of agriculturally related water runoff conditions selected in collaborationwith the Chesapeake Bay Program Office, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Potomac River Keepers,and Shenandoah River Keepers. This effort will provide the framework for Phase II which will include customization and fabrication of a field pilotsystem, as well as testing a wider suite of contaminants, including endocrine disruptors, bacteria,and other particular contaminants that are health hazards.This research will benefit the agricultural community by providing a low-cost, highly efficienttechnology to remove pollutants commonly associated with agricultural operations. It willsupport LPPFs and CAFOs in meeting increased regulatory requirements as well as theagricultural industry commitment to reduce impact on surface water pollution and protectgroundwater sources.MicroDesalTM is compact and expected to be scalable to larger capacity based on externalengineering assessments. Micronic has identified markets for 1,500; 5,000; 15,000; 20,000; and150,000 gallons per day of treatment capacity. Each capacity level is targeted for a specificcommercial customer application based on extensive discussions with a variety of public andprivate industry sectors and market research. Anticipated markets for portable units includeagricultural wastewater lagoons for treatment and reuse that protect groundwater supplies forhuman consumption in rural areas; hydraulic fracking produced water at the wellhead for reuse;air pollution control blowdown water at power utilities; a wide variety of desalinationapplications, including oil and gas offshore production platforms, where economicallyproduced clean water is needed to replace current systems.