In the early 1980's, KDF Fluid Treatment, Inc.'s CEO and founder, Don Heskett, discovered that by stirring a glass of chlorinated water with a brass pen, the chlorine was removed from the water. Things quickly led to the development and marketing of the company's original product, KDF755 process medium, a high-purity zinc-copper alloy. Today a full line of patented KDF process media are available that are used throughout the water purification industry. The result of this new technology is the virtual elimination of a wide variety of contaminants in water, including free chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, iron and other metals.

KDF process media work by using oxidation/reduction (redox) reactions that naturally occur between alloys and water. Redox reactions occur in two stages or half reactions, the first half of the reaction being oxidation which results in a net loss of electrons. The second half, reduction, is a net gain of electrons. For KDF process media, oxidation occurs at the zinc anode with a subsequent sacrifice of zinc ions to the water. Reduction reactions occur at the copper cathode where electrons and protons are available. What this all means is that KDF process media transfer electrons to contaminants effectively eliminating them from water.

Since these reactions are sacrificial and the metal composing the anode will be lost to solution, metals used in the alloy have to be able to conform to USEPA* drinking water criteria. The beauty of KDF products is that zinc, which is sacrificed and released into the water, meets or exceeds these criteria and is beneficial to human health. Recent studies have highlighted the essential role of zinc in the human body, for foetal development, childhood learning and even curing the common cold. Besides the obvious health benefits from the addition of zinc to water, the zinc-copper galvanic cell used by KDF process media is the most efficient at transferring electrons. This results in superior performance and efficiency in performing redox reactions while at the same time being safe for use in public water supplies.

Today, KDF process media are used in pretreatment and primary treatment purification systems for potable and industrial process water, and in wastewater treatment. The USEPA has classified KDF process media as a "pesticidal device" due to the excellent control of bacteria, algae, and fungi growth with filtration systems. KDF process media are also 100% recyclable, eliminating disposal problems associated with other filtration media.