Combating Chromium The Smart Way

Ever since Erin Brockovich discovered hexavalent chromium in California’s water supply in the early ‘90s, the contaminant has been on the minds of treatment plant operators everywhere.

At ACE.15, several sessions were dedicated to the dangers of chromium. It finds its way into water as industrial runoff and is also naturally occurring. In high concentrations, it is known to cause cancer.

But getting rid of chromium isn’t as straightforward as utilities would hope.

“One of the issues with chromium removal is that, once you remove it, then you have to dispose of it,” says Tom Davis, President of Tonka Water.

That can be an issue as it potentially finds its way back into the groundwater. The key to chromium removal is to convert the contaminant from hexavalent chromium to the nonhazardous trivalent chromium.

This can be achieved by the Chromex process developed by Tonka.

“Chromex is a method of ion exchange that uses a strong base ion resin,” says Davis. “We place the resin in a special sulfate condition, and it allows us to recycle our regeneration fluid and have, ultimately, a nonhazardous waste.”

Discarding chromium as nonhazardous waste can mean all the difference in time and expense.

To hear more about Tonka’s solutions for chromium contamination, tune in to Davis’ full Water Online Radio interview below.