Test results for Membrane Distillation

Type of contamination	Amount	Result	Method	Detection level	Test by
Bacteria	14 000 (after 7 days)	0	Membrane filter count	-	National Bacteriologic Laboratory, Stockholm
Chlorine	3.4 mg/l	0	Photometric analysis (Perkin Elmer)	< 0.01 mg/l	Water Protection Ass of South West Finland
Salt water	31 000 ppm	0	Ion chromatography	< 1 ppm	VBB Viak Stockholm
Trihalomethanes	1 000 µg/l	0	Gas chromatography	< 1 µg/l	University of Turku, Finland
Radon	380 Bq/l	0	Alfa detection	< 4 Bq/l	Swedish Radiation Protection Institute
Cesium Strontium Plutonium Radium	2.4 Bq	0	Lithium Drifted Germanium Detector	< 0.1 Bq	Radiation Physics Department, Univ of Lund
Arsenic +3	10 mg/l	0	AAS Graphite	< 0.003 mg/l	Analytica AB, Stockholm
Arsenic +5	10 mg/l	0	AAS Graphite	< 0.003 mg/l	Analytica AB, Stockholm

Facts about contaminants and test results

Type of Contamination	Sources of Contaminant in Drinking Water	Potential Health Effects from Ingestion of Water	Reduction with HVR
Chlorine	Disinfectants	Eye/nose irritation, stomach discomfort, anaemia. Infants & young children: nervous system effects.	100%
Trihalomethanes Chloroform Bromoform Bromodichloromethane Dibromochloromethane	Disinfection by-products.	Increased risk of cancer. Liver, kidney or central nervous system problems.	>95%
Microorganisms Cryptosporidium Giardia lambila E.Coli	Human and animal faecal waste.	Gastrointestinal illness (e.g. diarrhoea, vomiting, cramps). (There have been deaths caused by Cryptosporidium or E.Coli bacteria in water.)	100%
Viruses, parasites	Human and animal faecal waste.	Same as above. Can also cause nausea and associated headaches.	100%
VOC’s Volatile Organic Chemicals	Mainly herbicide runoff or discharge from chemical plants/factories.	Cancer, kidney, liver and brain damage. Damage to the nervous, reproductive and immune systems.	>85%*
BTX Benzene	Discharge from factories, leaching from gas storage tanks and landﬁlls.	Anaemia, decrease in blood platelets, increased risk of cancer.	>80%
Radon	Natural gases, (radioactive) element found in bedrock.	Increased risk of cancer.	100%
Smell			100%
Color			100%

*The average reduction of 26 tested volatile organic compounds
Full test results for the non-volatile contaminants can be found here.

Note: For the non-volatile substances, the reduction is approximate, because it may vary depending on the composition of the water. Tests performed by certified laboratory ANALYCEN.

Tests were conducted at IFM/Dept of Chemistry at Linköping University.
IFM’s test result can be found here.

The contaminants mentioned do not neccessarily exist in drinking water.
Also, there are other contaminants not mentioned that may exist in drinking water.
Non-volatile matter such as iron, ﬂuorine, minerals, lime, etc. is not affected with Purity.

Justification of tests
Since the ions contained in salt water and the radioactive ions, which have been included in the test program, are smaller than 0.001 microns (one micron is 0.000001 meter) and thus smaller than any other types of particles, the tests conducted with salt water and radioactive ions prove that all types of particles are removed.

Tests with bacteria have been conducted to control that live organisms do not behave differently in the process compared to other matter tested. Bacteria are around 1 micron in size. There are known smaller living organisms. Virus, for instance, are as small as 0.01 micron. However, not even unknown organisms can be smaller than an ion. An ion consists of one or several atoms.

Chlorine, trihalomethanes and radon are gases commonly found in drinking water. The former in municipal water and the latter in well waters. Total removal of these gases imply that also other gases are removed completely.

Total efficiency
All gases (or any volatile matter) will be removed in the same way and all material (or any non-volatile matter) will be removed. And there is no other type of matter than volatile and non-volatile. Therefore we can say: no matter what your contaminants, they will be removed.

Detection levels
The contracted laboratories have used state-of-the art measuring methods. Even though all test results are zero, i.e. below the detection level (measuring capacity) of the equipment presently used, there may be some undetected traces of the tested elements in the purified water. As soon as more sophisticated test methods appear on the market, HVR will make new tests.

Radioactivity

Membrane distillation retains radioactive ions in the discharge water and discharge gasses. Our technology can be adapted to remove radioactivity from water, for example by adapting the ELIXIR model.

In this case, provision needs to be made for taking care of the radioactive effluent. Connecting Elixir to the domestic ventilation system ensures that effluent gasses are removed and diluted to safe levels in the air.

Storage of the unpurified radioactive water in safe vessels.

The Promise of clean-tech

Clean-tech may just be a solution for our beleaguered city infrastructure. Instead of using electricity to heat things, we can use electricity to drive heat pumps and heat exchangers and get out up to eight times as much energy compared to using electricity to heat alone.

We can use low-grade heat, like sunlight, to heat water.

And we can clean water on a smaller scale, using point of use water purifiers like HVR's Elixir, especially if they run on waste heat or solar heat, they are highly effective.