Validation of the EcH2O Electron-Activated Reactor for Purifying Contaminated Water in Parkersburg (West Virginia)

This paper discusses validation of the EcH2O portable ‘batch-treatment’ electron-activated reactor field unit designed to purify contaminated water to make it safe and potable. The basic EcH2O system consists of a 90-gallon plastic reactor tank (trash can), ionized nitrogen-oxygen (NI-OXTM) vapor-ion plasma generator, and 1-micron electron separation (e-SEPTM) porous cartridge water filter. While the NI-OXTM generator applies UV radiation to activate and split ambient air into aggressive water treatment agents in the form of free electrons and charged dissolved vapor ions, the e-SEPTM cartridge is designed to absorb NI-OXTM treatment agents and solvated (free) electrons to induce filtration and rapid disinfection-kill of bacteria and other pathogens. The study started by creating a water quality database from contaminated surface water, EPA/West Virginia water quality standards, and Vienna City water. The EcH2O purifier was run 14 days/month from April-September 2014 and samples analyzed for chemical and bacteriological quality. When the results were matched against published data, EcH2O compared favorably with both EPA/West Virginia water quality standards and Vienna City water (R2 = 0.99; p<0.011; N = 13). The EcH2O purifier was found to be affordable and capable of delivering potable water to households in poor countries at about $0.27 per person per day with economic savings of nearly $7.00 at this rate.