New wastewater technology could help clean up lakes

excerpted from Detroit Lakes Tribune, May 24, 2009

SJE-Rhombus, Detroit Lakes, has a new treatement system that could be the next great thing for the health of Minnesota Lakes. The compact system takes wastewater and turns it into water nearly clean enough to drink.

The new system uses a form of ceramic filters that provides microfiltration down to .2 microns (about 1,000 times smaller than a human hair). It also requires a much smaller space--about 200 square feet compared to about 4,000 square feet needed to handle 10,000 gallons a day under old technology. The filters also last about 20 years, three to four times longer than conventional filters.

The new technology has implications for water-scarce parts of the world, in that it would essentially allow water to be continually reused.