Winning water treatment

A Manchester University invention that provides a low cost and continuous way of cleaning water has scooped a major industry award.

The Arvia water treatment process, which allows the continuous removal and destruction of toxic and non-biodegradable pollutants, won the Water Award at the Institution of Chemical Engineers Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2008.

Arvia Technology was founded by Dr Nigel Brown and Dr Ted Roberts of the School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science at Manchester University at the beginning on 2007.

The company was spun out of the school with assistance from UMIP, the University’s commercialisation and intellectual property arm.

The Arvia process relies on an adsorbent material called Nyex, which is electrically reactivated for continuous re-use and destroys all pollutants, leaving no secondary waste requiring further treatment.

Dr Brown said the process is cost-effective for removal of low concentration of organics, as cost is directly linked to the quantity of micro pollutants to be removed from the incoming effluent.