Wastewater treatment method earns patent for Cypress man, Houston-area team

A Cypress man is part of a local group of inventors who received a U.S. patent earlier this month for an improved method of treating effluent water generated by oil and gas processing facilities.

According to the patent, the group has developed a more efficient method of processing certain kinds of wastewater that could allow facilities operators to more easily comply with federal environmental guidelines. It says its method also makes it possible to recycle the water and safely dispose of waste without using an outside wastewater treatment facility. The invention involves a reactor that contains pellets of a porous ceramic material that is used to process the water.

The patent lists the inventors of the new device as Gary W. Markham of Manvel, Harmon L. Kirkpatrick of Pearland, Rick Guercio of Cypress, Douglas E. Mast of Pearland, and Stanley C. Gustas Jr. of the Heights area of Houston.

The patent was originally filed on Feb. 12, 2009, and approved on Feb. 1 of this year. Its official number is 7,879,245. The filers were represented in the process by Oklahoma-based law firm CableGotwals.