Wastewater Treatment Membrane Filtration NanoClear™

Name: NanoClear™ Industrial Pervaporation System
Brand: NanoClear™

NanoClear™ Pervaporation Solutions

Most wastewater treatment membrane filtration systems use high pressure and porous filters that can foul and break down from chemical exposure over time. NanoClear takes a different approach by using a heat-based process to move water through a solid nanostructured polymer, with no high pressure required.

Understanding Membrane Filtration Technology

To see why NanoClear stands out, it helps to know how standard membrane filtration technology works. In most membrane filtration systems, water is pushed through a barrier with very small openings, and the membrane pore size controls which particles are blocked and which pass through. The common types of membrane filtration are microfiltration MF, ultrafiltration UF, and reverse osmosis RO, each designed to target a different range of particle and dissolved solid sizes. Microfiltration is used to remove suspended solids and large particles from water, while ultrafiltration targets finer particles and some dissolved solids with more precision. Reverse osmosis removes nearly all dissolved solids, but it needs very high pressure to push water across the membranes effectively.

Spiral wound membranes are a very common design used in reverse osmosis RO and ultrafiltration UF systems, rolling flat membrane sheets into a coil to fit more surface area into a compact space. Cross flow filtration is also a key part of how most membrane filtration systems operate, with feed water flowing across the membrane face rather than straight through it to sweep away buildup and keep the membrane clean. The applications of membrane filtration span a wide range of uses, from drinking water treatment and food processing to complex industrial wastewater cleanup.

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Spiral Wound Water Filters used in RO Systems

Common Membrane Filters

The Mechanism: Solid-State Pervaporation

At the center of every NanoClear system is the Aqualyte™ membrane, which sets it apart from other membrane technologies and from standard types of membrane filtration. Unlike conventional membranes, the Aqualyte membrane has no pores at all. It absorbs water on one face, moves it through inner channels at high speed, and releases it as low-pressure vapor on the other side through the Pervaporation process, which uses heat as its driving force rather than pressure.

Three key traits make this approach stand apart from standard membrane filtration processes:

The membrane strongly favors water while blocking ions, salts, and organic compounds, as well as gases like O2 and N2.
The smooth surface resists biofouling because the membrane’s internal acidic state stops bacteria and fungi from growing, a fact confirmed by ASTM G-21 and G-22 tests.
The output water has TDS below 10 mg per L, which is about 100 times cleaner than current US EPA drinking water standards.

Aqualyte Nanomaterial Membrane Detail Images

Dark areas in image are 5 – 20nm wide regions of solid hydrophilic polymer.

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NanoClear Systems in Pasco County Florida

Substance Reduction Performance

Third-party tests show that NanoClear treats difficult wastewater that reverse osmosis cannot handle, covering a wide range of dissolved solids and organic compounds. The table below shows how much each key substance was reduced in industrial waste samples.

Substance	Before (mg/L)	After (mg/L)	Reduction
Calcium	3,100	0.219	100%
Cesium	5,000	0.0012	100%
Chloride	132,000	4	100%
TDS (Total Dissolved Solids)	230,000	8	100%
COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand)	50,300	13	100%
Sulfate	15,100	17.8	99.9%
Sodium	1,500	65.2	99.9%

These results go well beyond what standard membrane filtration processes can reach and confirm that no other type of membrane filtration hits this level of purity from such tough industrial waste.

Read Our Technical White Paper:
Achieving 100% Contaminant Reduction in Industrial Wastewater Treatment

Built for Harsh Environments

NanoClear membrane filtration systems are built to work in conditions where other systems fail or break down. The system treats salinity up to 250,000 mg per L with no damage to the membrane and no major rise in energy use. It handles Chemical Oxygen Demand loads up to 50,000 mg per L and operates across a wide pH range from 2 to 11. A single NanoClear pass can replace several stages of ultrafiltration UF and reverse osmosis RO, cutting system cost and daily upkeep at the same time.

Industrial Economic Impact — ME3XX Series

The ME3XX Series turns low-grade waste heat, from 50 to 70 degrees C, into a clean water resource that lowers operating costs for industrial plants. When waste heat is available, costs fall to just $0.24 to $0.58 per cubic meter of treated water, which is far below pressure-based methods. The system can recover 60 to 99 percent of the water that enters it, which cuts the volume of waste that must be disposed of. Because the system runs at low pressure, below 35 kPa, it can use plastic pipe instead of the high-pressure steel that reverse osmosis RO requires, reducing capital costs.

ME3XX Module Specifications

Model	Production Capacity (L/hr)	Active Membrane Area (m²)	Peak Thermal Energy Input (kW)	Wastewater Flowrate (LPM)
ME301	20	6.75	14	193
ME3H2	100	1.35	70	38
ME303	300	20.3	210	580
ME305	500	33.8	350	967

NanoClear – ME303

Zero Liquid Discharge Applications

NanoClear membrane filtration technology is a key tool for industrial plants that want to reach Zero Liquid Discharge. It pulls clean water from brine at very high rates, which shrinks the amount of waste that needs further treatment in crystal tanks or evaporation ponds. If your current wastewater treatment process uses multiple stages of ultrafiltration UF and reverse osmosis RO, a single NanoClear pass may replace them at a lower total cost.

NanoClear – ME3H2

Verified Data Summary

NanoClear reaches 100% removal of Calcium, Cesium, and Chlorides from industrial wastewater, as confirmed by direct test results.
Its output water is 100 times cleaner than US EPA drinking water standards by direct measurement.
The system delivers 99.9% removal of Sulfates, Sodium, and Potassium.
Zero biofouling performance is confirmed by ASTM G-21 and G-22 test results.

NanoClear – ME305

NanoClear FAQs

Q: How does NanoClear handle extreme salinity compared to traditional reverse osmosis RO?

Answer:

Standard reverse osmosis RO systems start to struggle when salinity exceeds 6 to 8 percent, causing energy costs to rise and RO membranes to break down. NanoClear is built to treat wastewater up to 25 percent salinity, or 250,000 mg per L TDS, without those limits. Because the Pervaporation process is driven by heat rather than pressure, energy use stays flat even as total dissolved solids increase in the wastewater feed.

Q: What pretreatment and maintenance does the system require?

Answer:

The system requires only basic suspended solids filtration down to 20 microns and a pH level between 2 and 11 to operate at full output. If membrane filtration works less well over time, a simple one-hour citric acid flush is all that is needed to restore performance, with no complex repairs required.

Q: How pure is the output water from the NanoClear process?

Answer:

NanoClear puts out water with TDS below 10 mg per L in most cases and often as low as 1 mg per L in a single pass, regardless of how much dissolved solids were in the source water. This output is about 100 times cleaner than US EPA drinking water standards and qualifies as parts-per-billion clean.

Q: Can the system operate using waste heat from an industrial facility?

Answer:

Yes. NanoClear uses low-grade waste heat between 50 and 70 degrees C to drive the Pervaporation process, so plants can turn excess heat into treated water rather than letting it escape. Facilities that use available waste heat can reduce their power use to as low as 4 to 5 kWh per cubic meter of product water.

Q: How effective is NanoClear at removing PFAS and other emerging contaminants?

Answer:

NanoClear is very effective at removing forever chemicals, and third-party tests confirm this across a wide range of compound types. The system was tested against 36 types of PFAS, including PFOA, PFOS, and GenX, starting from an input level of 2,000 parts per trillion. All 36 types were reduced to levels that were not detectable by the lab tools used in testing.

Q: How does the Aqualyte™ membrane resist biofouling without heavy chemical treatment?

Answer:

The Aqualyte™ membrane has no pores, which means there is no place for bacteria, debris, or organic compounds to become lodged or trapped. Its smooth, water-loving surface forms a thin water layer that acts as a shield and prevents foulants from sticking to the membrane face. The membrane also has a natural acidic state that stops microbial growth on its own, a property confirmed by ASTM G-21 and G-22 testing.

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