Clean drinking water

In many parts of the world, large swaths of the population still do not have access to clean drinking water, and it remains a top priority for governments worldwide. LANXESS products play a key role in rendering water safe for drinking all around the world. LANXESS’ Lewatit® ion exchange resins and Bayoxide® arsenic adsorbers remove pollutants from water and other liquids.

The presence of arsenic in drinking water is one of the most dangerous forms of water contamination. Some extremely high arsenic concentrations occur in groundwater in many regions of the United States, South America and Asia. Excessive arsenic levels are often found in Europe as well. LANXESS has developed an iron oxide, called Bayoxide® E33, which is designed specifically for the removal of arsenic from water. The water treatment system is built around a solid bed of iron oxide beads. The specially-engineered beads have finely structured surfaces that adsorb pollutants when contaminated water flows over them.

Another widely used water treatment process is ion exchange with Lewatit®, which is used to remove pollutants such as nickel, nitrate or certain hydrocarbons from drinking water. During the ion exchange process, contaminated water flows through a container filled with ion exchange resins. The resins filter the contaminants, substituting harmless ions for the pollutants. The treated water is extremely pure, and has many industrial applications as well. For example, the semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries require extremely pure water, as do the boilers of power plants. In addition to rendering water safe for human consumption, Lewatit® is used in these industries.