zNano Turns Laundry Sludge to Sparkling H2O

zNano Has Developed a Cheaper Filtration Tech for Smaller Businesses, Like Laundromats

The abbreviated list of technology startups in Silicon Valley tackling the droughthas a lot to do with the fact that venture capitalists aren't fond of the high costs and potentially low returns on investment involved in saving or reclaiming water.

That hasn't dissuaded San Jose-based zNano from developing molecular filtration technology that recovers clean water from dirty sludge on a scale that wasn't feasible before — the small scale. In the past, that kind of reclamation was only economical at large and expensive plants, and the environmental benefit produced from recycled water was often canceled out by the large amount of energy used to produce it.

ZNano has developed a cheaper filtration tech for smaller businesses, like laundromats, that can actually reduce water usage. This summer, the company began selling machines that can transform polluted water to a substance that is 70 percent cleaner than tap water, according to CEOAdrian Brozell.

One of the main processes zNano uses is called biomimetic filtration. This method has been an important focus of interest in the chemical research community.

Biomimetic filters, according toSusan Rempe, a principal researcher in the nanobiology department at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, mimic the structure of naturally filtering cellular water membranes. She said the membranes are "exactly the same chemically as those that purify water in the human body," and which are one of the most efficient purification systems.

Source: BizJournals

Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here

Media

Taxonomy

• Purification
• Filtration
• Technology