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Co has seen a retrenchment in traditional residential, commercial, and industrial ion-exchange resin markets. But there are growth markets as well, including wastewater remediation. "I would hesitate to call them niches because these applications are huge. Resin selectivity is being turned on perchlorates, tannic acid, boron, and radium for environmental remediation, he says. Resins are also being applied in tandem with reverse-osmosis membrane filtration. "Reverse osmosis will often remove up to 99% of a contaminant," he says. "Ion exchange can be added as a polishing step" in applications where contaminants and elements must be removed completely.
Complete removal is a growing criterion, he says. In California, for example, the acceptable levels of perchlorate will soon drop to zero. "In environmental remediation, it's all polish," he says. Reclamation of precious metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper, uranium, and gold from mining streams and other waste streams is another growth patch
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