The oil sands industry relies heavily on water for its extraction processes, resulting in significant volumes of contaminated water.
The oil sands industry relies heavily on water for its extraction processes, resulting in significant volumes of contaminated water. For every barrel of oil, it takes two to five barrels of water to extract crude bitumen from oil sands. Although oil producers recycle this water in their extraction processes, ponds of contaminated water eventually form that can’t be utilized or returned to the environment.
Working closely with Canada's Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), an alliance of oil sands companies working with scientists, academics and innovators to make Canadian energy part of a sustainable environment, H2nanO is committed to addressing the pressing need for new, sustainable water treatment solutions.
The startup’s patented technology, SolarPass, harnesses sunlight to produce oxidants that degrade contaminants in process-affected water. This remediation can work within days to reduce aquatic toxicity — outperforming more energy-intensive and harsh chemical-dependent methods to improve water safety and reuse potential.
Read more at: University of Waterloo
