Atrazine removal from water

Atrazine is an organic compound (C8H14ClN5) which is used to control weeds in agriculture. It is a triazine systemic herbicide and acts as an Endocrine Disruptor (EDC) and can be dangerous for humans. This is why we need to remove it from water.

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Atrazine removal from water

Atrazine desisopropyl and atrazine desethyl are commonly used herbicides, belonging to the class of triazines and priority substances under the UK Water Framework Directive (WFD). Atrazine has not had approval for EU use since 2004 over groundwater contamination fears. Atrazine desisopropyl is so persistent, it is still being found in groundwater sourced despite being banned. Our water technology, Nyex, is extremely effective at atrazine removal from water.

What we achieved

Arvia’s Nyex Rosalox™ technologies achieved Atrazine removal rate of 99%.

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What is atrazine used for?

Until 2004, atrazine was widely used as a herbicide or weedkiller for crops including maize, asparagus and sugar cane. Consumers also used it on lawns to control broad leaf weeds.

It is banned in the EU and tighter controls are coming in the US (as of 2022) but it is still used in many parts of the world to varying degrees.

Where is atrazine banned?

Atrazine use was banned by the EU in 2003 but continued to be used by many other parts of the world for many years.

The US has not restricted the use of atrazine to the same extent as the EU. In recent years only atrazine concentrations that exceed 15μg/L would be subject to restrictions in the US. However this is due to change to 3.4μg/L following a new proposal (2022) from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Australia continues to use atrazine, despite calls for the herbicide to be banned and atrazine is one of the most common pollutants in drinking water in Australia.

Atrazine is an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) and as such can interfere with the cells of the human body. It can disrupt hormone levels, the cardiovascular system of a human, as well as causing cancer.

Humans are more at risk from exposure to atrazine if they are reliant on ground water for drinking water and live in an agricultural area which uses atrazine for crops.

Atrazine in water

Atrazine is soluble in water to a concentration of 30 mg/litre at 20°C. It can be found in groundwater in areas where atrazine has been used. It is also found in drinking water, where there is insufficient water treatment to remove it.

It persists in nature following agricultural application and needs to be removed from groundwater and water sources. It will not biodegrade on its own.

How to remove atrazine from water

The atrazine structure means it will adsorb well to our Nyex media. Once adsorbed, a low electric current passes through the Nyex media and creates hydroxyl radicals on the surface of the media. These hydroxyl radicals react immediately with the atrazine, which then mineralises to gas which is safely vented away.

Using Nyex Rosalox, we have been able to reduce atrazine to 0.001 µg/L.

If you would like to learn more about our Nyex Rosalox system:

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Does GAC remove atrazine?

Granular activated carbon does remove atrazine until it is saturated. Once saturated, it needs to be regenerated off-site, which entails stopping the process while the media is removed and replaced with fresh GAC.

The carbon footprint of using GAC is surprisingly high due to the off-site regeneration. This was the driving force behind development of Nyex Rosalox – to create a water treatment process as effective as GAC but which could be regenerated simultaneously in-situ to enable continual treatment.

If you want to learn more about the carbon cost of GAC:

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Does ozone remove atrazine?

Ozone is an effective treatment process to remove atrazine from water, but it does come with very high capital and operational costs. Ozone has to be generated on-site, which can be a challenge for your COSHH team. On top of that, the maintenance of an ozone water treatment reactor is high due to the fine ozone nozzles getting clogged with sludge.

If you have a large problem with EDCs like atrazine, then it can be a sensible choice. If you are looking for a viable alternative, then you could look at Nyex Rosalox.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are persistent in water after multiple treatments. The two recognised methods of removing EDCs from water are adsorption and ozone treatment.These have been briefly discussed above but you could also look here for more information on these technologies