Over the past two years AquaMinerals has studied, in collaboration with a number of partners, how iron pellets could contribute to healthy and clear water. These pellets – made from aquafer – seem perfectly capable of removing arsenic and phosphorus from water: just as well as the traditional techniques and substances.
Controlling blue-green algae
Surface water in the Netherlands often contains lots of, or too much, phosphorus. This phosphorus is an important nutrient source for, among others, blue-green algae, with consequences that can be seen in the summer. The iron pellets remove the phosphorus from the water, thus depriving the algae of food. And this means less blue-green algae. Waternet has used the pellets to treat the water in the Sloterplas lake. The pellets reduce the phosphorus content over a long period, even keeping it at levels that are below those set in the Water Framework Directive.
Less arsenic in drinking water
The Dutch drinking water sector has itself resolved to reduce the arsenic content to 1 µg per litre, down from the former target of 10 µg. This, too, we can achieve, among others, through the use of sustainable iron pellets. Following laboratory research, the pellets were applied in practice at Dunea and Brabant Water production sites. They performed superbly: the arsenic concentration remained below the desired target over the period.
Results through collaboration
The partners in this TKI research project are AquaMinerals, Brabant Water, Evides, Dunea, Waternet, KWR and the German Agravis. These good results will lead, among others, to a pilot study at one of the Evides sites. We hope to find out how the pellets can best be incorporated in the current treatment processes.
Delivered from stock
AquaMinerals has managed to reach good agreements with the iron pellet producers, which make it possible for us to deliver the most common dimensions from stock. If you’re interested, contact Ronny Theune.
