Posts by soneerawater

Unity officials visit Tecvalco plant

By John Cairns Staff Reporter, Battleford News Optimist Municipal officials from the Town of Unity got to see for themselves the progress made towards the manufacturing of their new Soneera Water wastewater treatment system. They visited the Tecvalco plant in North Battleford Tuesday afternoon, where the system is being constructed. Officials from the town, including Mayor Sylvia Maljan, as well as their CAO and heads of public works and finance, went on the tour at the North Battleford facility. The town purchased two Soneera water treatment filtration units earlier this year. The units are part of a pilot project sanctioned by the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency. These will be the first Soneera units built in Canada. “It will help the capacity of the Town of Unity to grow both economically and through their commercial applications and allow them to access and use some more water,” said Mike Menger, president of Tecvalco Ltd. Then the electrical work is done including the installation of the plate packs, “which is the real key to the Soneera technology,” said Kent McLeod, vice-president of manufacturing for Tecvalco.Inside the plant, the delegation saw the base and the structure for the Soneeras, as well as the troughs. There were also plates lined up on the side that would be fitted as sidewalls. These would be pre-fitted, welded and then blasted and coated inside the plant. There are two units being constructed for Unity, with the first unit being completed by mid-October and the second unit by late October. The units should be commissioned and up and running by mid-November. There is also construction going on at Unity’s site, with the shed and the slab to be finished by the end of this month. The work is on schedule, according to officials. Darrell Behan, president of Soneera Water Canada Ltd., called the technology a game-changer in Canada. “Our technology uses no chemicals, it has less waste, so it only has five per cent waste instead of 30 per cent waste for standard water treatment systems, and it’s cost effective,” said Behan. “For communities of 5,000 to 10,000, it’s a cost-effective way of updating their sewage ponds.” As for the location of the construction, Soneera had been looking around for a plant that could handle the build and were looking at sites across North America. However, Behan said Wayne King, the previous owner of Grit Industries (now Tecvalco) contacted him about their facility and officials met in Arizona and signed the deal. Tecvalco signed the agreement that makes them the exclusive sales agent and manufacturer in Canada for the Soneera system. Already, there have been expressions of interest from other communities in Canada. But nothing is finalized until the pilot project in Unity gets up and running. “We’re very happy to concentrate on manufacturing and selling in Canada,” said Menger. “This project is a major, huge quantum leap...

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Soneera Water Activities – Power Generator Sector

Trials & Demonstrations Soneera Water arrived in the USA in February 2014 and quickly manufactured a waste water treatment system in Phoenix. To date, Soneera Water has conducted demonstrations to most of the Cities in the Greater Phoenix Area, including the waste treatment facilities’ managers and engineers, APS and SRP. Soneera Water has performed a few significant trials where the system was challenged to meet difficult and at times almost impossible waste treatment scenarios. Below are two trials performed in the Power Generation Sector. Tucson Electric Power Holding Ponds Trial Tucson Electric Power (TEP) diverts its waste water to 7 million gallon storage ponds which are filled with algae, harsh chemicals and a silica loading exceeding 230 parts per million (ppm). The water is useless for any further industrial applications so it is forcibly evaporated. When the ponds are full, the waste water is chemically treated to render it neutral and is dumped to sewer where significant charges are incurred. The Challenge: Treat the concentrated waste water in the holding ponds to determine what, if anything, can be removed. The site manager actually said “good luck, because nobody can do anything with this water” and absolutely expected Soneera Water to fail. The Result: Soneera Water treated the waste water with the following results: a. Removed more than 90% of the silica achieving results of 10 ppm. b. Removed more than 95% of the algae, enabling the water to be reused. Soneera Water demonstrated an alternate use for the waste water. It could be recycled back into the TEP cooling towers, used for dust suppression or a variety of non-potable industrial uses.   Tucson Electric Power Cooling Tower Trial TEP dumps more than 275 gal/min of waste water from each of its cooling towers which then goes to the 7 million gallon storage ponds. This water is dumped because it contains concentrations of silica exceeding 180 ppm, which causes scaling, fouling and reduced efficiencies across the entire power generation cooling system. The Challenge: Treat the dumped waste water by reducing the silica content by 50% and resupply it directly back into the cooling tower. Site management advised that 80% of all issues at TEP are generated by silica. The Result: Soneera Water treated the dumped waste water (blowdown) and removed more than 99% of the silica. This has the following benefits for TEP: a. Significantly increased Cycles of Concentration b. Zero chemical additives required to manage silica build up. c. >90% of the blowdown waste water was returned clean. This reduces waste at the holding pond and reduces sewer costs. d. Maintenance and labor is reduced by not having to descale the silica from the TEP cooling system. e. Wear and tear on parts is significantly reduced by the removal of silica. Combined Trial Results Any queries can be directed to the following Soneera Water Executive Darrell Behan   COO...

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