RECENT NEWS

November 2009 
Aqua V.P. Joins Purdue University Industrial Advisory Board

October 2009 
Aqua Donates $10,000 to the WateReuse Foundation

May 2009
Aqua's Our Green is Blue Community Supports the WateReuse Foundation

March 2009
Latest Aqua-Aerobic MBR is Operating Successfully at a California Casino Installation

February 2009 
Aqua-Aerobic MBR for Decentralized Applications is being Field Tested at Colorado School of Mines

November 2009

Aqua V.P. Joins Purdue University Industrial Advisory Board

Chris Korab, V.P./Human Resources of Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. has been invited to join the Industrial Advisory Board of the Department of Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University.  The Industrial Advisory Board assists the department in enhancing the Computer Graphics Technology undergraduate and graduate programs by providing advice, counsel, and support on various aspects of departmental programs.  Korab is scheduled to join the board at their next meeting on December 3, 2009.


October 2009

Aqua Donates $10,000 to the WateReuse Foundation

On Tuesday, October 14th, Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. presented a check to the WateReuse Foundation during WEFTEC '09 in the amount of $10,000 to be used for future research projects and educational initiatives by the Foundation. This is the result of Aqua-Aerobic's 6-month campaign dedicated to educating and promoting the importance of clean, reusable water through an on-line, interactive community named Our Green Is Blue at www.ourgreenisblue.com which generated a membership of nearly 1,000 supporters from around the world.

The goal of the campaign was to obtain 10,000 supporters of Our Green Is Blue consisting of a diverse group of people who share a common interest in sustaining the world's number one resource - water. Supporters simply provided their name and e-mail address, and in return received informative e-newsletters relating to water reuse. Aqua would then donate $1.00 on behalf of each supporter to the WateReuse Foundation. Aqua is pleased to have reached 10% of its supporter goal and was proud to donate the full $10,000 representing the current and anticipated future membership of Our Green is Blue. A check presentation by Aqua-Aerobic Systems President and CEO, Bob Wimmer was made to Wade Miller, Executive Director of the WateReuse Association during a WateReuse hospitality event on Tuesday, October 14th.

 

May 2009

Aqua's Our Green Is Blue Community Supports the WateReuse Foundation

Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. has initiated an "Our Green Is Blue" community to provide the wastewater treatment industry with education, support, and Total Water Management Solutions. Since Aqua-Aerobic Systems has been "Going Green" for 40 years, it is more about "Going Blue", hence the "Our Green Is Blue" community.  Aqua-Aerobic is dedicated to continuous research and development, environmental preservation, and sustainability.  This is evident throughout the entire organization, from employees to customer solutions.  Aqua-Aerobic's onsite recycling programs and state-of-the-art facility designed with energy-efficient heating, cooling, lighting and water conservation technologies provide a daily eco-friendly environment.  Aqua-Aerobic helps its customers achieve "green" initiatives by providing them with "blue" solutions that are not only energy-efficient but provide Total Water Management at the lowest lifecycle cost.

One of the main goals of the "Our Green Is Blue" community is to support the WateReuse Foundation in its research efforts to preserve water resources and protect public health.  For every person that joins the "Our Green Is Blue" community (at no charge) Aqua-Aerobic Systems will donate $1.00 on their behalf.  Members of the community will receive industry news, water and wastewater research updates, wastewater treatment solutions information.  To learn more visit www.ourgreenisblue.com.

Rockford, IL, March 6, 2009 - Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. has partnered with the Colorado School of Mines' Advanced Water Technology Center (AQWATEC) and Mines' Small Flow Program to conduct field testing on the Aqua-Aerobic® MBR decentralized wastewater treatment system. The system consists of a full-scale Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), coupled with Koch PURON™ membranes. The main objective of the research project is to assess the performance of the decentralized system by treating one of the campus' housing community domestic wastewater sources (about 400 apartments). The focus of the testing is on the optimization of the treatment process for biological nutrient removal (BNR), membrane operation, and process adjustment for constant and seasonal flow patterns.

 

March 2009

Latest Aqua-Aerobic MBR® System is Operating Successfully at a California Casino Installation

Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. recently commissioned an Aqua-Aerobic® MBR Membrane Bioreactor at the newly constructed Quechan Paradise Casino in Winterhaven, California. Quechan selected the Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system for treatment of its wastewater due to its small footprint, high quality effluent, and low energy consumption. The project utilized a design-build concept to meet the customer's objective of start-up prior to the peak tourist season. Aqua-Aerobic worked closely with the engineer and contractor to get the facility constructed within a several month period so it would be fully functional prior to the casino's Grand Opening deadline.  

Although the Quechan Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system is not required to meet California's Title 22 reuse requirements (since it is located on Native American owned land), it was designed to meet these objectives.  As is the tradition of many Native American communities, the Quechan Tribe’s intent was to attain an even higher standard of effluent quality with strict limits set on both Nitrogen and Phosphorus. Treatment operations began in mid-January 2009, and the casino opened a month later. As anticipated for a Grand Opening, the Aqua-Aerobic® MBR was to realize an increase in flow from < 2% to nearly 100% capacity overnight.  To accomplish this, Aqua presented a unique start-up plan, which included several weeks of supplemental feed of both organics and nutrients.  Due to this proper planning, a large expense for hauling seed-sludge was avoided, and the MBR met the effluent quality objectives throughout the weekend of the Grand Opening.   Despite realizing significant fluctuations in daily flows and loads, the facility continues to record exceptional operating data with minimal operator input.

                                    
Quechan's MBR is designed to treat an average daily flow of 0.15 mgd with expected performance objectives of: 5 mg/l BOD, 10 mg/l Total Nitrogen, 5 mg/l TSS and < 2 NTU. Although the plant is not required to meet a specific Phosphorus objective, it monitors Phosphorous for reuse purposes. With an annual total precipitation of 3”, the effluent shall be reclaimed to supply a drip irrigation system for the casino's landscaping and a future golf course. The Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system is installed inside a building with separate rooms for: process equipment, pumps, chemical feed equipment, blowers, and controls, thus satisfying the customer’s small footprint objective.

Quechan Paradise Casino is currently planning an expansion that includes a second hotel, gaming facility, and onsite golf course. The Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system is designed to treat the future flow of 0.25 mgd with only the addition of two membrane modules. Since all of the tankage and biological treatment equipment is sized to meet this future flow, expansion of the treatment system will be easy.

 

February 2009

Aqua-Aerobic MBR® for Decentralized Applications is being Field Tested at the Colorado School of Mines

 

On February 17, 2009 Colorado School of Mines hosted a dedication event to celebrate the start-up of the research project. AQWATEC began testing the onsite Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system, which utilizes two alternating adjacent batch reactor trains with a flow capacity of 6-12 gallons per minute (gpm). Additionally, the school operates a bench-scale conventional MBR (10-15 gallons per hour), which complements the full-scale MBR system. It utilizes a smaller PURON™ hollow-fiber, submerged membrane module, and can be operated as needed to compare performance between various treatment schemes.

Preliminary studies revealed that the Aqua-Aerobic® MBR system is highly efficient for onsite non-potable reuse, or direct discharge to a stream in decentralized wastewater treatment applications. The system is suitable for flows of 5,000 to 50,000 gallons per day (gpd). Its advantages include enhanced BNR, low energy consumption, reuse quality effluent, and a small footprint.

Colorado School of Mines is well known for its excellent engineering education and applied sciences, specializing in stewardship of the Earth's resources: earth, energy and environment.