Patent ID: 7563939

Claim:
A method of treating radioactive waste water containing contaminants in the form of ions, colloids, suspended solids or combinations thereof having negative charges, said process comprising: passing an electric current through a quantity of said water placed between an anode means and a cathode means to cause electro-coagulation of said contaminants, said anode means comprising at least one anode element made of a metal that dissolves in said water to provide cations of said metal for neutralizing the negative charges on said contaminants and to form oxide or hydroxide precipitates of said metal containing said neutralized contaminants; and, separating said precipitates from said quantity of waste water to provide a water effluent having substantially less contaminants than were present in said waste water before said electro-coagulation; wherein at least a portion of said precipitates contain a ferromagnetic component, and wherein said separating step comprises using an electro-magnetic filter for separating said ferromagnetic precipitates from said waste water.