Water treatment by dendrimer-enhanced filtration

A method of removing anions from an aqueous fluid containing said ions, comprising:

• contacting the aqueous fluid with an amount of a dendrimer agent sufficient to bind at least a portion of the anions in the fluid, to produce a quantity of dendrimer-bound anions;
• and
• filtering the dendrimer-bound anions from the fluid,
• whereby a quantity of filtered fluid is produced.

A method of removing a first anion from an aqueous fluid containing said first anion and at least a second anion, comprising:

• contacting the aqueous fluid with an amount of a first dendrimer agent sufficient to bind at least a portion of said first anion, and simultaneously
• contacting the aqueous fluid with an amount of a second dendrimer agent having binding affinity for said second ion, under conditions such that the extent of binding of said first anion to said first dendrimer agent is increased by the binding of the second anion to the second dendrimer agent, to produce a quantity of dendrimer-bound first anion and a quantity of dendrimer-bound second anion;
• and
• filtering the dendrimer-bound anions from the fluid,
• whereby a quantity of filtered fluid is produced.