Technology designed and patented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making drinking water safer for consumers by removing ammonia. This technology has been licensed to multiple companies, whose installations are now providing healthier drinking water to the communities they serve. 

AdEdge, the first company to license this technology, markets it as NoMonia, an innovative water treatment technology that removes ammonia, arsenic, iron, and manganese.

The EPA’s Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response in Cincinnati, Ohio, and AdEdge collaborated on further development of the treatment system, which removes ammonia from drinking water before it reaches the consumer distribution system.

Many regions in the United States have excessive ammonia in groundwater from natural and agricultural sources. In the presence of oxygen, ammonia is converted to nitrite and then nitrate through a process called nitrification. This natural process removes ammonia but can create unsafe levels of nitrite and nitrate.

NoMonia alters the nitrification process by converting ammonia to nitrate without the presence of nitrite. Because NoMonia uses no chemicals, the waste associated with the process is non-hazardous and low in volume. Most of the monitoring required can be performed by water utilities on a daily and weekly basis.

For its significant impact and technology transfer success, EPA's innovation underlying NoMonia was selected as the recipient of the 2017 FLC Technology Focus Award. The technology is available for installations from multiple companies, and is also available for additional licensing.

For more information about the technology transfer effort behind this success story, contact the EPA tech transfer staff at [email protected]