| About
Zeobrite® |
 |
| Zeotech
Corporation |
| Zeotech
Corporation mines and processes a unique natural zeolite
mineral ore called clinoptilolite. We were the first company
in the United States to build a plant exclusively for
mining, processing and packaging of natural zeolite products.
This production facility is located south of San Antonio,
Texas and has been in operation since 1984. Our Zeobrite
water filtration products are produced from a bed-rock
deposit located in western New Mexico. Zeotech Corporation
continues today as one of the largest producers of natural
zeolite products in the U.S. with an annual production
capacity of 40,000 tons of bagged product. |
|
| Extensive
internal research and development and cooperative research
with numerous industrial companies, universities and governmental
bodies have enabled Zeotech Corporation to develop a variety
of all-natural and chemically modified products for a
wide range of applications. |
|
| In
the 1990's Zeotech pioneered the research into the use
and effectiveness of zeolites in swimming pools. That
research lead to the development of Zeobrite®
and
the application of the product in backyard pools as well
as municipal pools and large commercial pools in use at
major amusement parks. |
|
| A
BIT OF FILTRATION HISTORY |
| The
“Old Days” |
| The
first applications by mankind of using sand to filter
water or beverages is lost in antiquity. We have records
that Roman engineers built aqueducts to bring clear water
from mountain springs through beds of sand to fill city
fountains for drinking and bathing. With the abundance
of natural zeolite mineral formations in Italy, it would
not be surprising if it was zeolite sand that was used
to filter water for some of their fountains. |
|
| During
the Medieval Period, Europe was decimated several times
by disease. The severity of typhoid fever and cholera
epidemics could have been reduced if not eliminated with
proper water treatment. By the mid 19th Century it was
demonstrated that those that drank tea (thereby boiling
water) were less prone to certain diseases. Until that
time, it was believed that disease was spread by foul
odors (“vapours”). Slow sand filters for drinking
water were constructed in London, England by 1829 with
a three foot deep sand bed. Sand filters were in use in
the United States by the late 19th Century. By the 20th
Century water systems implementing sand filtration for
community drinking water were common. |
|
| Modern
Science |
| The
science of filtration has progressed exponentially in
the last one-hundred years. We can now filter sea water
with synthetic membranes by reverse osmosis to remove
ions of sodium and chloride to make drinking water. We
have available for our use nano-filtration, ultra-filtration
and micro-filtration using manmade fabrics, membranes
and hollow fibers. Electrodialysis Reversal can use electrical
current to remove dissolved solids including low-atomic
number ions from water. Still the majority of filtration
applications call for inexpensive gravity or pressure
filtration through granular media. In fact, the sub-micron
filter systems still need suspended solids removal ahead
of them to avoid fouling of the membranes. |
|
| Silica
Sand |
| Silica
sand has been the mainstay of granular filtration in potable
water systems as well as for swimming pools and ponds
to filter out particles down to 20 microns. Sand is ubiquitous
and inexpensive. |
| |
| Zeolite:
The Newcomer |
| The
alternative Zeobrite®
media is now available through widespread distribution
for swimming pool and potable water systems. Zeobrite®
can be used in simple filtration vessels manufactured
for silica sand but Zeobrite®
has properties that permit a higher quality of filtration.
Zeobrite®
has over 100 times the surface area of silica sand. It
is a microporous media with millions of small pore spaces
for entrapment of contaminant particle size from silt
to colloids. The Zeobrite®
granules are hard enough to last several years (recommended
4 to 5 years ) in a high-rate pressurized system with
up to 20 gpm/ft2 backwash rate. |
| |
