AbTech Holdings Inc. has completed testing on a disposable product aimed at the treatment of hazardous contaminated waste water.
The multi-use Smart Sponge 55 will initially be marketed to the chemical shipping, ground water remediation and energy sectors.
The product is a self-contained, disposable 55-gallon drum filter system using Smart Sponge material (pictured). Since each filter system is fully self-contained, there is no human contact with the spent filter material, AbTech said. The entire treatment unit can be disposed of in an appropriate disposal site as a solid waste, once all the water is drained out of the unit.
As a result of the drum design, there is no need to decontaminate used equipment at the end of the project, as long as filter drums are correctly disposed of, Abtech said. The company said that the capital cost of treatment unit is insignificant compared to the operating costs of large fixed treatment systems.
And if the unit needs to be examined for any reason, the drum is fitted with quick-release couplings. The couplings reduce the amount of time the drum is in contact with humans – key when hazardous materials are involved, AbTech says.
AbTech is expecting first commercial sales to begin in the third quarter of 2011. The firm is working with companies to deploy this new product in both the U.S. and international markets.
“We are extremely excited about the potential for Smart Sponge 55. The relatively low cost of treating contaminated water on-site in self-contained units will open up significant new opportunities for the Smart Sponge technology," said Glenn Rink, chairman and chief executive officer.
In 2008, Abtech won the Water Technology and Water Management category in Always On’s GoingGreen 100 Top Private Companies list.
Other companies in the category included Agua Via, HydroPoint Data Systems, Nano H2O, and Windseal.
In June 2010, GE inked a contract to design and install an ultra-pure water system at GlobalFoundries' semiconductor manufacturing facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, N.Y.
GE’s ultra-pure water system aimed to filter millions of gallons of water per day to be used in the semiconductor manufacturing process, to reduce the foundry’s operating costs while increasing its efficiency.
During the production cycle, a wafer comes into contact with ultra-pure water more than 35 times and any disruption of service or “out-of-spec” water can compromise the wafers or result in loss of product.
