Atium is a startup that has developed a patent-pending technology, based on a reversible electrochemical process, to improve the performance and efficiency of mercury removal from water. The technology is designed for industrial applications including mining, chemical manufacturing, waste-to-energy, recycling, and the dental industry, with the aim of reducing contaminants and emissions from activities and processes.
The result of several years of research at Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, the reusable filters developed by the Swedish company are more effective than conventional methods even in the removal of low concentrations of mercury.

Cleaning up wastewater

Legal requirements imposed on companies are increasingly stringent, to improve the efficiency and sustainability of water treatment to clean up land and water from old emissions stored over many years. The mining industry, for example, handles large amounts of mercury in its processes and wastewater, having to treat huge quantities of water every year. Atium’s innovative solution can replace and integrate current water treatment systems, increasing the rate of mercury removal and reducing costs and secondary waste production.

The advantages of Atium

The Swedish startup’s first prototypes achieved an extremely high rate of removal on industrial water samples, lowering mercury levels far below EU drinking water recommendations.
In the words of Atium CEO Emma Hanaeus, “the technology is unaffected by acidic pH and high temperatures, enabling it to operate in extremely harsh conditions. Furthermore, the Atium filter selectively filters only mercury, without wasting capacity with other substances”.

Website:
www.atium.se

Sector:
Mercury removal

Pros:
Technology based on reusable filters

Features:
Reversible electrochemical process for the selective removal of mercury from wastewater

Image: Envato Elements