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The claim in and of itself isn't very extraordinary. There has been commercially availalbe technology capable of meeting such a specification since the 1980s. You have to recognize the difference between an advertising claim such as this (which was probably based on laboratory testing under ideal conditions) and what the unit can do in the field. There is also the matter of cost. You may be able to do something from a technological point of view, without being able to afford it. And 200 gpm is a drop in the ocean, compared to the scale of the problem.
Be biggest factor affecting the performance of an oil water separator is the nature of the oil and the extent of emulsification with the water. As the oil weathers, it tends to become more and more tarry. It is likely to gum up the equipment until its performance decreases, requiring the unit to be taken off line and cleaned.
Even if the unit worked economically and perfectly under field conditions as claimed, this would hardly be a panacea for the problem. You have to get the polluted water in to the unit. The oil is dispersed over hundreds of square miles. Some of the oil is on the surface, some is below the surface, and now some is settling in the marine sediments. Even the oil on the surface is difficult to corral in order to burn it off. Pumping it into the treatment unit is going to be that much more difficult.
You would have never heard about this technology had it not been for Kevin Costner backing it.
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