Iron may be used to clean up water
JAN 21, 2011
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024991
Economist : Although people don’t usually want iron in their water because it has a disagreeable taste and leaves stains, a Florida company plans to use a chemically unusual form of iron to clean water up. Ferrates, which are compounds of iron and oxygen, destroy bacteria and viruses, and attract other chemicals in water, including dissolved metals, and precipitate them for easy removal. Plus, the iron in ferrates precipitates too, leaving pure water behind. Ferrates’ reactivity, however, makes them unstable and difficult to store. The trick, says Luke Daly of Ferrate Treatment Technologies in Orlando, will be to make ferrates on site, for instant use.
© 2011 American Institute of Physics
