Water quality
Emerging contaminants
Modern monitoring identifies substances that may pass through conventional clarification, filtration and disinfection stages.
Municipal waterworks · Advanced polishing before distribution
When conventional treatment reaches its limit, water still has one more stage to pass.
ART CARBON CNT technology captures and reduces pesticides, pharmaceutical residues, organic micropollutants, viruses and bacteria that conventional water-treatment processes may leave behind.
Less water loss. Less transport. Less downtime. More stable water quality before distribution.
Position in the treatment line
- 01 Source
- 02 Pre-treatment
- 03 Adsorption stage
- 04 Chlorination
- 05 Distribution
The adsorption stage always goes before chlorination, never after it. The material is catalytically active and would decompose combined chlorine. Chlorination is the investor's scope; we specify where the stage belongs in relation to it. Our stated performance refers to the outlet of the stage.
I · The changing responsibility of water utilities
Compliance at the treatment plant is no longer the only question. The real question is what reaches the distribution network.
Water utilities face contaminants and operating pressures that conventional treatment was not originally designed to solve.
Source-water variability, PFAS, pesticides, pharmaceutical residues, persistent organic compounds, microbial risks and growing demands for water recovery are changing the technical priorities of municipal water treatment.
Infrastructure
Existing plants must remain operational
Modernization must often be completed without replacing the complete plant or causing unacceptable interruption to water supply.
Resources
Water and material losses matter
Backwash water, spent media, transport and service interventions all influence the real operating cost of treatment.
II · What advanced polishing addresses
A final treatment stage for contaminants conventional processes may leave behind.
ART CARBON CNT is integrated according to the source water, treatment objective, required capacity and operating conditions of the individual waterworks.
01 / Agricultural contamination
Pesticides and metabolites
Capture of pesticide residues and their metabolites that can enter groundwater and surface-water sources used for drinking-water production. The most common reason a utility starts looking for a polishing stage.
02 / Organic micropollutants
Pharmaceutical residues
Reduction of medicines, antibiotics, analgesics and other organic micropollutants detected in modern water cycles.
03 / Microbiological protection
Viruses and bacteria
An additional protective treatment stage supporting the reduction of microbial and viral load within the complete water-treatment architecture.
04 / Persistent contaminants
PFAS, with a stated limit
ART CARBON adsorbs long-chain PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS. For short-chain and ultra-short-chain compounds including TFA, adsorption on a carbon-based medium is fundamentally limited; those are addressed with a targeted ion-exchange stage.
III · Three operational pathways
Not one universal machine. Three clearly defined waterworks functions.
Each solution can be deployed independently or integrated into a broader modernization concept according to the existing plant.
Polishing stage
Advanced water polishing
ART CARBON CNT is installed as a final adsorption and polishing stage after the existing treatment process, ahead of chlorination.
The system targets pesticides, pharmaceutical residues, organic micropollutants and other substances requiring additional treatment before distribution.
Benefit: improved final water quality without
replacement of the complete treatment plant.
Water recovery
Backwash-water recovery
A substantial part of water from filter backwashing can be treated and returned to the process instead of being discharged.
The configuration is selected according to suspended solids, waterworks sludge, treatment chemistry and the required return-water quality.
Benefit: lower water losses, reduced sludge load and
improved resource efficiency.
Series retrofit
Extending the life of existing activated carbon
The stage is installed in series ahead of the existing granular activated carbon filters. The load that would otherwise saturate the carbon is captured first.
This extends the interval between reactivations and is the lowest entry point for a utility that does not want to alter the rest of the line.
Benefit: a documented reduction in reactivation
frequency, without touching the rest of the line.
IV · Modernization without unnecessary replacement
We do not replace the water treatment plant. We add a precisely defined stage where the existing process reaches its limit.
Designed around the existing waterworks.
The final configuration reflects the raw-water source, current process line, available installation space, hydraulic conditions, operator requirements and the target quality before distribution.
- 01 Integration after existing clarification and filtration
- 02 Connection as a final adsorption barrier ahead of chlorination
- 03 Modular installation for staged plant modernization
- 04 Supporting pretreatment selected according to the real water
- 05 Defined sampling points and acceptance criteria
- 06 In-situ regeneration designed into the operating concept, stage by stage, while the rest of the assembly stays in operation
V · Laboratory, pilot and operating evidence
The technology is supported by measured water results.
Analytical protocols, comparative testing, microbiological results, pilot data and operating documentation are available to qualified clients during technical project assessment.
0.173 → 0.000 µg/l
Pesticides, inlet to outlet
Bezdědice waterworks, 2021 — one of four sampling rounds in operation on real raw water.
100 → 0 MPN/100 ml
E. coli, inlet to outlet
Microbiological protocol, VŠCHT Prague 2022 — remediation of a flooded well. Coliform bacteria fell from 20,050 to 12 MPN/100 ml in the same sample.
Not detected
Rotavirus A after filtration
Laboratory testing with the virus dosed into drinking water, plus operating data from pool and waste waters — matrices carrying a load orders of magnitude higher than any drinking-water source. Full protocols available on request.
No culturable bacteria
After 1,000 l and 14 days standing
Comparative test, TU Liberec 2023. Conventional activated carbon showed significant contamination after the same standing period.
Kinetics
Contact time decides the outcome
Metoprolol 97%, simazine 96% at five minutes of contact. Granular activated carbon reached 9% and 1% on the same water at the same contact time.
Batch sorption tests, TU Liberec · pre-treated surface water
fortified with four micropollutants at 1 µg/l each
Declared limit of applicability
Where we stop: PFAS
ART CARBON adsorbs long-chain PFAS (PFOA, PFOS) — we have point data, not breakthrough curves. For short-chain and ultra-short-chain compounds including TFA, adsorption on a carbon-based medium is fundamentally limited; for this group we propose an ART CARBON plus targeted ion-exchange configuration. Breakthrough curves and design parameters for a specific water are established within a paid pilot.
A declared limit of applicability is a stronger position in a tender
than a claim the competition can disprove
Detailed protocols, analytical methods, operating conditions and supporting documents are provided to qualified clients upon request.
VI · Operational value for waterworks management
Better water quality must also produce a defensible operating decision.
The technology concept connects contaminant reduction with operating stability, water recovery, service strategy and measurable performance.
Resource efficiency
Lower water losses
Backwash-water recovery can return treated water to the process and reduce unnecessary discharge from waterworks operations.
Service strategy
No reactivation logistics
The adsorbent stays in the column and is regenerated in place. There is no removal and no transport to a reactivation facility. Regenerated material reached 92–100% of the performance of new material at ten minutes of contact.
Plant modernization
Integration without complete replacement
The treatment stage can complement existing infrastructure instead of requiring construction of an entirely new treatment plant.
Technical accountability
Defined and measurable performance
The project establishes target parameters, sampling points, operational conditions and acceptance criteria before implementation.
VII · From water data to an operating system
A disciplined pathway for waterworks modernization.
The first decision is not which machine to buy. It is what the water requires and how the result will be verified.
01 / Assess
Technical and economic assessment
Raw-water analysis, flow, current process line, operating problems and required output quality, with design options.
02 / Verify
Laboratory verification
Performance confirmed on a sample of your own water before anything is designed or quoted.
03 / Pilot
Pilot operation
Breakthrough curve and media capacity under representative waterworks conditions.
04 / Document
Documentation for the design engineer
Hydraulics, supporting technologies, monitoring, regeneration, acceptance criteria, CAPEX and OPEX.
05 / Fund
Drawings for a grant application
Technical documentation prepared in the form required by funding programmes for municipal water infrastructure.
06 / Deliver
Installation and handover
Installation, trial operation, verification against the agreed criteria and handover to the operator.
The first two steps are offered as a non-binding assessment with no contractual commitment. We are licensed to carry out this type of construction work and cooperate with design offices familiar with our technologies.
VIII · Technical documentation
Explore the concept and request the supporting evidence.
The technical document presents the advanced polishing concept for municipal waterworks. Additional laboratory, pilot and operating documentation is available during technical project assessment.
Product technical designation: AC Polish · adsorbent ART CARBON
- 01 Laboratory and comparative testing
- 02 Pesticide and micropollutant analytical results
- 03 Microbiological and viral test protocols
- 04 Drinking-water contact certification
- 05 Pilot and operating documentation
- 06 Regeneration and process-integration information
IX · Contacts / Get in Touch
Which substances is your plant dealing with?
Send your latest water analysis and basic operating data — required flow, existing process description, the operating problem and the target water quality. We will propose the next technical step: a laboratory assessment, a pilot, or a preliminary technical and economic study.
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DANIEL-LM s.r.o. · AquaTech North Bohemia division ·
This page presents the technology. It is not design documentation and
not a performance guarantee for any given type of water.