Cleaning up our drinking water Nobody wants Volatile Organic Compounds in their drinking water. New membranes have been discovered that efficiently eliminate these harmful substances before they reach your tap. Climate Change and Environment © PhotoDisc Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs, are organic (i.e. carbon-containing) compounds that vaporise easily at room temperature. VOCs generally have low solubility in water, yet they can pollute drinking water, making it unfit for public consumption. High concentrations of VOCs can lead to health problems, affecting the central nervous and respiratory systems. Some VOCs, such as benzene, have even been proven to be carcinogenic. Hence, removing VOCs from the water supply is of critical importance. The International Cooperation (INCO) Programme, which encourages collaboration with non-EU countries, funded research to develop new materials and methods for VOC removal. In the project, the Russian Academy of Sciences helped identify Polytrimethylsilylpropyne (PTMSP) as an ideal organophilic material for the construction of membranes. These membranes selectively "strip" VOCs in the gaseous phase from contaminated water passing through the water management system. Equally important was the establishment of a cost-effective manufacturing process to generate PTMSP membranes of a shape and size appropriate for industrial application. Special handling of the membranes, such as air-drying, helps ensure a high quality end product. Testing of the efficiency of the membranes with toluene and dichloromethane revealed good agreement between modelling and experimental results. It should also be noted that the hybrid membrane system developed is scalable to meet the requirements of water management systems of varying capacity. In terms of economics, the expected horizon for return on investment is approximately two years. The Russian Academy of Sciences is avidly pursuing the exploitation of these remarkable results.
