May 03, 2004

By: Steven Aylmer
Website: http://www.water-purification-filters.com

DOD Awards Portable Water Purification Units to Remove Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents From Military Drinking Water

Argonide Corp., a research based nanomaterials corporation, today announced award of a Phase I SBIR grant by the U.S. Defense Department to develop a chemical free water purification system tailored to remove chemical or biological contaminants from remote locations or where water supplies are inadequate.

The core technology is based on proprietary electropositive fibers which are the size of a DNA molecule. When formulated into a thin filter, these highly charged little fibers effectively remove greater than 99.9999% (6 logs) of virus size particles at remarkably high flow rates. NanoCeram, winner of R&D Magazine’s award as one of the most technologically significant new products of the year, provides a cost effective and practical method for producing superior drinking water.

The DoD Chemical and Biological Defense SBIR Program is part of a major effort to ensure safe and acceptable drinking water for military personnel. Currently the Army uses a reverse osmosis unit for mobile water treatment in the field, but it is too complex and too slow for small systems. Current systems, particularly small portable ones, are unable to filter many biological agents as well as naturally occurring pathogens, such as Norwalk, a common intestinal virus found in untreated waters.

NanoCeram offers many attractive alternatives to conventional media filtration. The cost effective filter media effectively removes microbes, turbidity, inorganic particles and insoluble radioactive compounds without reactive chemicals such as chlorine that can produce carcinogenic by-products. and would also be filtered by the system. The portable water purifier has application for campers and back-packers.

Argonide is now focused on residential point-of-use and point-of-entry water treatment devices and their potential role in protecting the public from threats of biological and chemical terrorism. The NanoCeram POU is a simple fast flow filter capable of removing naturally occurring bacteria, Cryptosporidium, and virus while meeting or even exceeding drinking water standards.

Widely publicized reports of contamination and pollution of municipal and private drinking water sources have motivated many people to consider buying a home water treatment system. Additional News, see benefits of drinking water.

Author Notes:

Steven Aylmer contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.water-purification-filters.com.  Get educated on the benefits of water purification systems and different water filters available.