How a "Small Filter Strip" Eliminates the "Invisible Killer" Arsenic in Groundwater – A Complete Technical Breakdown of ZONE Arsenic Removal Filer Media

1. Arsenic Contamination: An Underestimated Drinking-Water Crisis  

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists arsenic as a Group-1 carcinogen. More than 70 countries suffer from groundwater arsenic exceedance. In China, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are well-known high-arsenic belts. Long-term consumption of water >0.01 mg As L⁻¹ may cause skin, lung and bladder cancers. Classical technologies (coagulation/ precipitation, ion exchange) have three fatal weaknesses:  

- Trivalent arsenic (AsIII) must be pre-oxidised, complicating the flowsheet  

- Generate arsenic-laden hazardous sludge (HW07 in China)  

- Operating cost 0.8–1.2 USD per m³  

 

2. ZONE Arsenic Removal Filter Media: Redefining Adsorption  

Our R&D team found that when the specific surface area of an adsorptive medium reaches 300 m² g⁻¹, the conventional capacity ceiling can be broken. Through nano-scale channel engineering, the cartridge realises three breakthroughs:  

 

a) Dual-valence Targeted Adsorption  

- Fe-Mn oxide active sites with special coordination simultaneously chelate AsIII and AsV  

- Distribution coefficient Kd = 18 000 mL g⁻¹, 20× higher than conventional media  

   

b) Zero-Discharge Loop  

- Adsorption and stabilisation occur together; arsenic is converted into stable FeAsO₄·2H₂O minerals  

- Passes TCLP leaching test (leachate <0.3 mg L⁻¹) and can be land-filled directly  

 

c) Intelligent End-of-Life Alert  

- When design throughput is reached, effluent pH rises characteristically by 0.3–0.5 units  

- Users can judge replacement timing with a simple colorimetric strip  

 

3. Field Data: From Lab to Village Plant  

Inner Mongolia project (raw water 45 µg As L⁻¹):  

- After 18-month continuous run, effluent 7–9 µg L⁻¹ (< WHO 10 µg L⁻¹)  

- Treatment cost 0.12 USD m⁻³ (including cartridge depreciation)  

- Sludge volume reduced by 98 %; spent media only 25 kg yr⁻¹ (classical process 2.3 t yr⁻¹ wet sludge)  

 

 

Simultaneous phosphate removal 92 %, solving the frequent P co-exceedance in high-As regions.

 

4. Beyond Arsenic: Multi-Pollutant Synergy  

Recent work shows that when the cartridge is placed upstream of our [Heavy-Metal-Capturing Fibre], a “polish & recycle” chain appears:  

1. Cartridge removes oxy-anions (As, P, V)  

2. Fibre recovers valuable cations (Cu, Zn, Ni)  

3. Overall recovery >85 %, meeting circular-economy criteria  

5. Three Reasons to Choose ZONE  

1) Life-cycle service: water diagnosis, process design, spent-media take-back  

2) Modular scale: single strip 5 L min⁻¹ (household) to 50 m³ h⁻¹ (community) plug-and-play  

3) Global certifications: NSF/ANSI 61 & EU CE, suitable for USA & EU potable standards  

 

> Quote from a UN water-project engineer:  

> “In our Bangladesh pilot, ZONE cartridges cut arsenic exposure by 94 % for 15 villages, with zero replacement for six years.”

About ZONE  

As a leading manufacturer of nano-adsorptive media, we have devoted 15 years to special-purpose filtration. Our products have been adopted in 1 200+ projects across 62 countries. The arsenic cartridge family covers household (AR-10), commercial (AR-50) and industrial (AR-500) models. All shipments come with [free water testing] and custom design support.