A borehole shows what was spread on the field decades ago
Over 30–40 years of heavy use of chemical fertilizers, 600–1,800 mln t of nitrates have entered the ground, and the stock grows. Nitrate stays in neither soil nor oxygen-rich water: it flows into rivers and underground channels and into water intakes. Cut fertilizers today and tests improve only in decades, so treat the water, and now — not the field.
The limit is exceeded far beyond a few farms
The limit is 50 mg/L in the EU and by WHO, 10 mg/L as nitrogen in the US and 20 mg/L in China. Above the limit: EU — 14% of stations, India — every 5th point out of 15,000 (440 districts out of 779), North China Plain — nearly half of shallow-aquifer samples, US — 17 mln people on private wells.
People pay for it, not livestock
Germany pays 600–800 mln € a year to treat drinking water, water costs 32–45% more, a family of four pays 134 € more. US — damage up to $8 bln a year and 2,000 to 13,000 cancer cases. Calves gain less from 34–68 mg/L as nitrogen, the typical bad well is 11–34: people, food plants and water utilities pay, not livestock.
Today’s treatment moves nitrate into brine
Ion exchange: 2% of the water goes to brine — for a farm of 200 m³ a day that is 1,500 m³ a year plus salt and disposal; resin removes neither fluorine nor arsenic. Osmosis: 15–25% goes to concentrate, 20–30% more is pumped from the aquifer, membranes are replaced. Law works only after decades. Bottom line: nitrate has not disappeared, it has been moved into brine.
ARBOK ZWD takes everything dissolved in one pass
In a 200 m³ unit in a 20-ft container, water boils under deep vacuum at ambient temperature. The output is potable condensate (up to 10 ppm), and all dissolved substances come out dry, forming no brines or other waste. It is not only nitrates, but also fluorine, arsenic and salts in one pass. Energy: just 0.72 kWh per m³ net at any contamination level, life 15–20 years, no outside heat. 200 m³ of treated water a day is 73,000 m³ a year, water for a farm of 1,300 cows. Energy: 51,000 kWh a year, $10,000 at $0.20 per kWh, or $0.14 per m³.
The farm stops paying for brine and consumables
100% clean water yield, pumping from the aquifer 20–30% lower than with osmosis (73,000 m³ instead of 86,000–97,000); brine 0 instead of 1,500 m³; resin, membranes and reagents 0; tens of tonnes of dry salt for sale. Payments that stop — salt, disposal, membranes, chemicals — are income. At water at $1.5–2 per m³, revenue is $110–146 thousand a year, payback 5–7 years.
The scale is industrial
US: 260,000 residents of two California valleys — 130 containers. World: 1 bln people at 10 liters a day — 50,000 containers and 2.6 TWh a year, about $0.5 bln for electricity. Nitrate cannot be banned, diluted or washed away, it can be taken out and dried: a container of 25 m², and what was in the glass yesterday is in a warehouse sack tomorrow.