Albuquerque, NM -- The City of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Edenspace Systems Corporation today announced the successful completion of a four-month pilot program to remove arsenic from drinking water using a new arsenic-extracting plant, the Edenfern™. A hydroponic treatment assembly of 80 plants reliably reduced drinking water arsenic levels from greater than 10 parts per billion to less than the detection limit of 2 parts per billion.

The pilot demonstration began in early December 2003, when Edenspace shipped the treatment assembly and Edenfern™ plants from Virginia to a greenhouse in Albuquerque operated by the City Parks and Recreation Department. A treatment tray holding eight ferns was suspended in a cell containing 12 gallons (45 liters) of water. Ten such cells were plumbed together. Water was pumped continuously through the assembly at rates up to 450 gallons per day (GPD), or 1,700 liters per day (LPD).

More than three months of continuous test data was obtained in the pilot project. The initial flow rate of 66 GPD (250 LPD) was increased to a maximum of almost 450 GPD (1,700 LPD) during the course of the demonstration. An average level of just over 10 ppb arsenic in City drinking water was consistently reduced to less than the detection level of 2 ppb even at the highest flow rate. Preliminary analysis suggests that the system might reliably have treated up to 1,000 GPD (3,800 LPD) below the 2 ppb detection limit, and up to 4,000 GPD (15,000 LPD) below the new EPA standard of 10 ppb.

Other parameters of the treated water, such as pH and the presence of organic matter, salts, and bacteria, indicated that the process maintained excellent drinking water quality. At the end of the project, water was pumped through the assembly after the plants had been removed. As expected, in the absence of the plants there was no observed decrease in water arsenic levels.

Mr. Bruce W. Ferguson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Edenspace, stated, "We greatly appreciate the cooperation of the City of Albuquerque in this important demonstration, which lays the foundation for simple, low-cost drinking water treatment in the U.S. and other countries."

The pilot demonstration culminated more than two years of Edenspace research sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Excellent results have been achieved at different water pH levels and at different levels of chlorination and fluoridation, and in the presence of sulfur, sodium and calcium compounds. Preliminary results have been published in Environmental Science & Technology, with additional results to be published later this year.

Web site: http://www.edenspace.com/

Acquisition : 3M Broadens It's Filtration Platform

ST. PAUL, Minn. & MERIDEN, Conn.-- 3M and CUNO Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for 3M's acquisition of CUNO in an all cash merger for $72 dollars per share, valuing the transaction at approximately $1.35 billion including the assumption of $60 million of existing net debt. CUNO is a leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of a comprehensive line of filtration products for the separation, clarification, and purification of fluids and gasses.

"Liquid filtration demand is growing rapidly, driven by critical customer needs for enhanced liquid separation and pure water," said Harold Wiens, executive vice president, 3M Industrial Business. "Our current air filtration business based upon our separation and filtration technologies totals well over $1 billion. We see multiple opportunities to take advantage of the complementary positions of the two companies, and believe that combining 3M's technology and global presence with CUNO's large and expanding installed base and strong product portfolio will enable us to achieve significant revenue and cost synergies."

CUNO has become a leader by providing innovative liquid filtration solutions to customers in many of the same industries 3M serves, including industrial, health care, consumer, and transportation. CUNO has demonstrated a strong track record of consistent and impressive growth and profitability, with sales increasing at a compound annual growth rate of more than 9 percent and earnings per share growing at a compound annual growth rate greater than 30 percent during the past ten years.

CUNO products include proprietary depth filters and semi-permeable membrane filters used in a broad range of potable water, health care and fluid processing applications. These products effectively remove contaminants that range in size from molecules to sand particles. CUNO estimates its aftermarket replacement sales at more than 70 percent, which provides a predictable revenue stream.

Mark G. Kachur, chairman and CEO of CUNO commented on the transaction, saying "This all cash merger will deliver excellent value to our shareholders. 3M and CUNO will be able to efficiently deliver a much broader range of solutions to a diverse global customer base and bring new filtration products to market faster. Our companies share a culture of innovation and operational excellence, and the CUNO team is excited about working with our 3M colleagues around the world."

"These two great companies have complementary sets of filtration products and the opportunity to bring an even wider range of innovative filtration solutions more effectively to customers around the world," said W. James McNerney, Jr., 3M chairman and CEO.

Source:  http://www.3m.com/

Santa Rosa, CA -- Facilities that handle chlorine and other toxic gases and store more than 2500 pounds1 of material are required by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency to conduct Risk Management Plan (RMP) studies. The studies are technical in nature and require a thorough analysis to address the potential for a toxic gas release into the community.

The program also requires identifying certain types of public receptors and environmental receptors that could be exposed to a release of gas from a site. The most significant aspect of the study addresses a worst case release scenario to assess the offsite consequences to the surrounding community. The RMP study permits the inclusion of mitigation factors to reduce the rate of release and the area affected. Only passive elements can be considered as a mitigation device in the RMP worse case scenario.

TGO Technologies’ Total Containment Vessels are the only technology that has been classified as “passive.” As a result, the surface area reductions for worse case release with the vessel is 97 percent with the end point of a release of chlorine, worse case less than 500 feet at 3 ppm. The release will probably be of a lesser amount due to expected freezing of the feed line. No other technology will provide this level of safety.

Scrubbers and fail-safe shut-down valve systems cannot be considered and will not provide any reduction in the offsite area affected when conducting the federal EPA Risk Management Plan (RMP) studies.

Containment vessels provide fire protection, blast protection, and are described in the Uniform Fire Code and the International Fire Code as a “treatment system” because contained material can be processed at the site.

The vessels are used to process chlorine from a chlorine cylinder or ton container that is enclosed within the vessel. The vessel will also serve as an emergency vessel for leaking cylinders.

For more information: See ChlorTainer at www.tgotech.com

. Weekly Update : Iraq Reconstruction - 5/11/05 Iraqi government officials are including environmental planning in the design and implementation of projects.

Emerson Wins Agreement at Chicago WWT Facility
Emerson Process Management announced that it has signed a major, multi-year agreement with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
 

Paul Boulos Joins National Association of GIS-Centric Software Board Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D, President of MWH Soft, has been named to the Board of Directors of the National Association of GIS-Centric Software.

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People post their requests for help and offer their suggestions to others in our open forum.

Mr. Van Smaalen wants to "settle" things:

How can I get a bentonite, cement and dolomite solution (less than 10% w/w solids at pH = 11) to settle through the lamella thickener (LT500) which was originally designed for iron slurry densification?

We currently run an anionic polymer and coagulant and it does not seem to settle this stuff. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
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Regards,
Steve Van Smaalen
MultiServ Division
svansmaalen@multiserv.com.au

Ms. Alcoriza has a problem white slime formation:

I am currently working for a Japanese company located in the Philippines. I would like to seek someone's professional opinion regarding the formation of white slime in our low wastewater.

The water used in the clean rooms are ultra pure water with resistivity minimum of 13 M-ohm/cm above. This water is being used for the rinsing of our glass disk product with some IPA, KOH, EDTA, ascorbic acid, nitric acid, low conc. of HF, H202 and Nipool.

We don't know what causes the formation of these slimes as the water though considered as wastewater is generally very clear with some alterations in the pH. I will appreciate every help you can offer.
(Click here to post a reply)

Thanks,
Mellani Alcoriza
Chemist - HOGP
malcoriza@hogp.com.ph

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Water/Wastewater Engineer - Rochester, NY

BBL is a privately held, employee-owned, environmental consulting firm with more than 40 offices and over 800 employees throughout the United States. We strive to be the most important provider of high-value environmental, engineering, life sciences, and related management services to the nation's leading industrial companies and select municipalities.

Water/Wastewater Engineer with 5 to 8 years experience to work on various water/wastewater projects for medium to large size municipalities.

Position Requirements:
B.S. degree in Civil and/or Environmental engineering, and EIT certification required. P.E. license preferred. Strong technical capabilities, client interaction experience and excellent communication skills are also required.

BBL offers competitive compensation as well as full time benefits. Benefits include paid time off, paid holidays, 401(k) and profit sharing plans, medical and dental coverage, and tuition reimbursement. We are seeking highly motivated team players for our nationwide openings, to include the following position based in Rochester, NY.

To apply, visit our website at www.bbl-inc.com/careers/ and fill out our on-line application for req# 05-120-02.

BBL
6723 Towpath Road
Syracuse, NY 13214

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Plants and arsenic, what a great combination.  Remove pollution and have something nice to look at, all at the same time!  Read on!

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Wastewater Engineering:
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Hardcover, 1848 pages, March 2002

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This weeks photo is of a newly patented, filter flow splitting weir being installed. This system is an integral part of the USFilter, CenTROL® filter system which consists of four gravity filter cells arranged around a common flow distributor and backwash column.

Photo courtesy of USFilter.

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