Hungerford & Terry Issues Revised Brochure on Its Patented Nitrate Removal Systems Process Lowers Nitrate Concentrations To Well Below EPA Standard Clayton, NJ – Hungerford & Terry, Inc. a leader in the design and manufacture of water treatment technologies for nearly a century, has revised the brochure describing its highly efficient nitrate removal technology. In recent years, contamination of groundwater, and in some instances surface water, by nitrates has become an increasingly worrisome problem. Particularly significant sources of such contamination include fertilizer run-off in agricultural areas, septic tank field percolation and land disposal of wastes. In high concentrations, nitrates pose severe health risks to people (especially infants), as well as livestock. Hungerford & Terry (H&T) has developed two nitrate removal systems that reduce the concentration of nitrates in the water to levels well below the 10 mg/L standard established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). H&T’s countercurrent removal system is best for most facilities because it is the most efficient in design and operation. For small systems where capital costs are of greater concern, H&T recommends its cocurrent nitrate removal system. Both the countercurrent and cocurrent systems reduce the nitrate levels in water through a chloride cycle anion exchange. The nitrates, alkalinity and sulfates are exchanged for chlorides on strongly basic anion exchange resin. The countercurrent system uses countercurrent regeneration to attain the lowest possible leakage from the exchanger, allowing a larger portion of water to bypass the treatment process. The goal is to develop treatment plants that are smaller and more efficient than the conventional cocurrently regenerated systems. In addition, nitrate leakage from a countercurrently regenerated system is one-quarter to one-tenth the leakage from a cocurrently regenerated system. Four-Step Removal Process Both systems use a four-step process to treat the water for nitrate removal: backwashing, brine injection, slow rinsing and fast rinsing. In the countercurrent version, the brine injection and slow rinse water are introduced at the bottom of the exchanger and flow upward through the ion exchange resin bed. - more -