Introducing new adsorbents in water treatment

Waternet and engineering consultants Witteveen+Bos are proud to announce their collaboration with CycloPure (USA), a pioneer in water treatment technologies that is commercializing a new class of selective adsorbents called High Affinity Cyclodextrin Polymers (HACPs). CycloPure’s HACP adsorbents are uniquely designed to deal with micropollutants of emerging concern such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides and PFASs. This collaboration introduces the promising adsorbents from CycloPure into the Dutch water sector. Witteveen+Bos and Waternet jointly evaluate the potential of these materials for advanced water treatment in the Netherlands, and develop the best suitable treatment concept.

Based on extensive research at Cornell University and Northwestern University (USA), that was published in Nature and other leading scientific journals, CycloPure’s HACPs are now in early production and pilot testing. CycloPure’s technology allows the conversion of renewable cyclodextrins (derived from corn starch) into highly adsorbent materials that are ideally suited for water treatment applications. Its adsorbents gain their strong binding affinity from cyclodextrin inclusion complexes that are optimally sized for the attraction and removal of micropollutants. With high capacity and rapid uptake at trace pollutant concentrations, CycloPure’s HACPs feature lower dosing to achieve adsorption objectives, and can be regenerated on-site with a very high reuse percentage.

Witteveen+Bos is highly involved in the micropollutant topic, providing consulting- and engineering services for several waterboards. The company is one of the leading applied research parties in the Netherlands. Waternet, the water cycle company providing high-quality, clean water to the metropolitan area of Amsterdam, is one of the most innovative water utilities of the Netherlands. They built the first full-scale wastewater treatment plant capable of removing micropollutants in 2012 and are currently optimizing this system. Next to this, Waternet is involved in many cutting-edge projects with regards to contaminants of emerging concern, such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, personal care products, micro- and nanoplastics and antibiotics resistance. CycloPure has developed two novel adsorbent formulations, CD-MP and CD-PFAS, for the removal of micropollutants from water. The company’s patented HACPs can be produced in varying particle sizes, allowing for flexible use across a broad spectrum of water treatment applications.