According to the current World Health Organization (WHO) directive, the uranium content of drinking water should be less than 2 µg/l. With the Uranex® process, this target value can be safely met.
Overview
The highly selective Uranex™ ion exchange process adsorbs uranium from drinking water very selectively and complies safely with the guideline. The remaining water composition remains unchanged.
- Benefits
- uranium in ground water
- Uranex™-process
- change of filtering material
Benefits
- highly selective process
- very low residual uranium content in the outflow (< 0,1 ppb)
- no change of water composition
- can be combined with existing treatment processes
- easy adjustment to changes in water quality
- simple technology which can be automated
- very low control requirement
- low operating cost
- exchange of the filter material and safe disposal by Veolia Water Technologies
Performance features of the Uranex™ technology
- Highly selective process
- Very low residual uranium content in the effluent
- No change in water composition
- Combinable with existing treatment processes
- Easily adaptable to varying water qualities
- Simple, automatable technology
- Ease of operation
- Low operating cost
Applications
URANIUM IN GROUND WATER
URANEX Anlage entfernt Uran aus Wasser - Veolia
Natural uranium can be found in multiple ground waters in Europe and North America, from which it can reach drinking water via wells.
The uranium concentrations can be between less than 1 to more than 100 ppb per litre.
In natural waters uranium exists almost exclusively as soluble carbonate and sulfate complexes. The danger does not come from radioactive radiation but from its toxicity as a heavy metal, which can cause kidney damage.
The German Federal Environment Agency published a guide value of 10 ppb per litre. The WHO recommends a value of less than 15 ppb of uranium per litre of drinking water. These values can often only be observed by means of suitable treatment.
URANEX® PROCESS
URANEX process for urane removal from drinking water - Veolia
The URANEX®-process is an ion exchange technology that adsorbs uranium from water very selectively without changing the remaining water constituents.
The raw water enters the adsorption filter from the top and flows through it in a run-off mode (see flow diagramm).
The used filter material is approved by the German Federal Environment Agency for treating drinking water.
The highly effective material is replaced by Veolia Water Technologies after a certain period (depending on the raw water quality instead of outflow values of the filtrate or material loaded) and safe disposal is provided.
EXCHANGING THE FILTER MATERIAL
At the end of 2010 Veolia Water Technologies built the worldwide first waste water- and residue-free regeneration plant for urane loaded resins.
The operation of this plant takes place through our partner company WISUTEC.
With this regeneration plant resin is regenerated residue-free to be used again for drinking water treatment.
The resulting urane is regained as reusable material.