August 7, 2012
KJ Reddy (left), a professor in UW’s Department of Ecosystem Science and Management,
and Kyle McDonald, a master’s student from Jackson majoring in water resources, pose
near lab equipment being used to remove arsenic from water. UW recently completed
a license agreement with the Wyoming Association of Rural Water Systems in which the
organization will develop and market the university’s patented technology.
The University of Wyoming and a state nonprofit organization have teamed up in an
effort to make water safer to drink worldwide.
UW recently completed a license agreement with the Wyoming Association of Rural Water
Systems (WARWS) in which the organization will develop and market the university’s
patented technology that removes arsenic from water.
“We’re going to use our contacts within the industry (water treatment companies) and
market this to try to get somebody to go forth with a commercially viable product
for the technology,” says Mark Pepper, executive director of WARWS, which is based
in Glenrock. “Money from royalties will flow back to the university to the benefit
of the state.”
WARWS is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to assisting its membership
with training and technical assistance to enable Wyoming’s rural water and wastewater
systems to provide “quality on tap.”
“It’s exciting to see that the research is going to the next stage, as a practical
application,” says KJ Reddy, a professor in UW’s Department of Ecosystem Science and
Management, who invented the arsenic-cleaning process.
Arsenic is an odorless and tasteless semi-metal element. It enters drinking water
supplies from natural earth deposits or from agricultural and industrial activity.
Arsenic has been linked to bladder, kidney, liver, lung, nasal passage, prostate and
skin cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s official website.
The arsenic standard for drinking water is set by the EPA at .010 parts per million
to protect consumers -- served by public water systems -- from long-term effects of
chronic exposure to arsenic.
“Arsenic is not just an issue in Wyoming, but worldwide,” Pepper says.
“Our goal is to work with WARWS, recognizing its expertise in water systems and its
strong connection with industry, to make water safer to drink as well as to transfer
UW technology into new products to diversify the Wyoming economy,” says Davona Douglass,
UW Research Products Center director.
Removing arsenic
Using cupric oxide nanoparticles as an oxidizer, Reddy’s process essentially scrubs
arsenic from water. The nanoparticles oxidize the more toxic arsenite compound into
the less-toxic compound, arsenate, Reddy says.
Pepper says the technology works like water filters that are attached to household
faucets. Such filters remove elements before water flows through the faucet.
While there are other technologies on the market that have the ability to remove arsenic
from water, UW’s technology was attractive because of its potential for commercial
affordability, Pepper says.
Reddy agrees, saying his arsenic removal process is less energy and time intensive
than others.
“A big advantage is my process is a one-step process” for arsenic removal, Reddy says.
“Unlike other processes on the market, there is no pre-treatment or post-treatment.”
Additionally, Reddy says the ability to regenerate and reuse the nanoparticles reduces
costs compared to other technologies. The cupric oxide is regenerated by leaching
it with sodium hydroxide. The regenerated cupric oxide can then be used again to remove
trace elements from waters, Reddy says.
“That’s (marketing of technology) where I really see the value in the patents and
the process he (Reddy) is using,” Pepper says. “He used readily available compounds
that were commercially available and could be made affordably.”
An accidental discovery
Reddy terms his science an “accidental discovery.” In the mid-‘90s, Cogema -- a uranium
company based in Casper at the time -- was looking for a way to remove selenium from
uranium-produced water. The company funded a project for Reddy to remove selenium
from uranium-produced water. Reddy used cupric oxide nanoparticles to remove the selenium.
Along the way, he discovered his method also removed arsenic from the water. Reddy
spent the next seven years trying to understand why.
“Seven years ago, the scientific and engineering community was skeptical,” Reddy says
of his discovery. “Now, they are becoming accepting of this new process to filter
arsenic and other trace elements from water.”
UW now owns U.S. patents for both the arsenic removal process and for the regeneration
of the cupric oxide nanoparticles. Reddy owns four international patents -- in Australia,
Japan, Mexico and New Zealand -- for the filtering process.
