Technology
The Soneera Water treatment system is a fully automated, continuous flow electrolytic treatment process that applies ions rather than chemicals to treat water. There are no filters, membranes or chemicals. No backwashing. No stopping to remove sludge or waste with <1% operational downtime. No labor is required to manage the process.
The system can remove the widest array of chemicals, organics, heavy metals and minerals using its patented design and electroflocculation process. This means that the same treatment system can be used to treat sewage, mining effluent, well water or industrial waste without reconfiguration, and deliver results that exceed existing treatment methodologies.
Metal ions are added electrolytically from anodes. The ions bind onto the pollutants making them larger and easier to remove. Gas micro-bubbles are created at the cathode. These bubbles capture the flocculated particles and float them to the surface (see photo of flocculant). Performed in a controlled manner, the contaminants are removed from the surface.
In almost all cases the removed contaminants are in a non-leachable solid that can be dried and made suitable for landfill. The only other by-products are naturally occurring harmless metal oxides.
The metal electrodes are sacrificially eroded via the treatment process. Soneera uses large area plates which means:
- Minimum power is required for the reactions to occur
- Large electrode size gives a long time between electrode replacements; typically every 100 days depending on the pollutant loading.
