All posts by Larry Lemasters

MIOX for Drinking Water Treatment at SIWW 2014

MIOX at SIWW 2014MIOX is exhibiting at the 2014 Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) from June 1 – 5.  Representing MIOX is Senior Scientist Andrew Boal, who will be showcasing the company’s revolutionary on-site Mixed Oxidant Solution generators and hypochlorite generators for drinking water treatment, advanced oxidation process and municipal wastewater treatment technology to the more than 19,000 water professionals attending SIWW.

Ranging from small communities to large cities with more than 10 million people, water treatment facilities are turning to MIOX chemistries for their drinking water disinfection because the proven disinfectant improves the quality and safety of drinking water while also providing significant economic savings. Conventional treatment processes consume a lot of fuel and release harmful carbon emissions. As such, there is a rising demand in the development of improved and/or new disinfection technologies.

MIOX at SIWW 2014MIOX offers a comprehensive line of on-site chemical generators which combine salt, water and power to generate cost-effective water disinfectants on site.  Whether you need the lowest cost and most reliable sodium hypochlorite (HYPO) on the market, maximum disinfection using our proprietary Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS), or a combination of on-site generated aqueous chlorine and ultraviolet light (Cl2/UV) through our new Integrated Advanced Oxidation (iAO) technology, MIOX can provide a wide range of solutions for your water treatment needs.

The Aerojet Rocketdyne site for Groundwater Remediation in California was able to save up to 75% on chemical costs and improve worker safety by switching to MIOX’s iAO technology.  To learn more, download the Case Study by clicking here.

About SIWW
The Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) is the global platform to share and co-create innovative water solutions. Stakeholders from the global water industry gather at SIWW to share business opportunities and showcase the latest water technologies. SIWW is part of the strategic program of the Singapore Government to grow the water industry and develop water technologies.

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MIOX Showcases On-Site Hypochlorite Generators at SynGas

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MIOX will exhibit at SynGas to showcase on-site generated Mixed Oxidant Solution (MOS) as a clean, safe alternative water treatment for industrial water treatment.  MlOX’s on-site chemical generation technology provides the safest water disinfectant in the market.  As demonstrated in industrial water treatment applications worldwide, MIOX’s MOS is proven to remove biofilm, reduce corrosion, eliminate water souring and other problems related microbiological growth.

One of the major applications we will be focusing on is how producers can use both on-site generated Mixed Oxidant Solution chemistry and on-site generated sodium hypochlorite for cooling tower water treatment. Other major applications include process water and wastewater at refining plants, fertilizer plants and ammonia plants.

Benefits of MIOX in industrial facilities include:

  • Increased thermal efficiency through biofilm removal
  • Reduction of biocide costs by up to 75%
  • Reduced dosage, ORP and corrosion
  • Reduced trucking, carbon emission and fuel consumption by eliminating delivered chemicals
  • Increased workplace safety through removal of storage and handling of hazardous chemicals

If you are attending SynGas 2014, make sure to stop by booth #59. If you are not attending but still want to learn more about MIOX’s industrial water treatment solutions, visit our resource library here, or connect with a MIOX industrial expert here.

About SynGas 2014
On Monday April 28, the SynGas Association will hold its 10th Annual conference in Tulsa, OK. SynGas provides “an open exchange of ideas and information to promote better safety, technical, environmental, operational and maintenance techniques for the mutual benefit of the organization and its participants.” Attending the conference will be producers and suppliers of the synthetic gas industry. From big name keynote speakers and over 30 industry specific breakout sessions to the annual SynGas Golf Tournament, this year’s conference will not be one to miss.

 

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MIOX Awarded Volunteer of the Month by the Joy Junction Homeless Shelter

While volunteering at Joy Junction, employees at MIOX noticed the large amounts of bleach that the nonprofit homeless shelter was buying.  MIOX then decided to take their volunteer work a step further by providing Joy Junction with their own mixed oxidant solution to help save on costs.  As a result, Joy Junction COO Jennifer Munsey awarded MIOX as their Volunteer of the Month for May 2013.  Accepting the certificate of appreciation was Larry Lemasters.

Joy Junction is a place of refuge to those who have been forced into the streets. They are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to helping homelessmen, women, children, and families in Albuquerque by providing food, clothing, shelter, and safety.  To learn more, visit http://www.joyjunction.org/

Joy Junction

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Pollution Prevention Award 2013

MIOX was awarded the Pollution Prevention Award 2013 for reducing waste and helping protect river and treatment plants through best management practices in several areas:

  • Proper disposal methods for process materials
  • Maintaining records of recycled materials & waste disposal
  • Storing chemicals properly
  • Practicing good housekeeping

 Pollution Prevention Award 2013

The Pollution Prevention Award was established by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) in 1992, and MIOX is honored to be recognized for its efforts in good stewardship of water and wastewater management.  You can read more about the program at www.abcwua.org and see other honored organizations.

ABCWUA visited MIOX earlier in the year, meeting with key personnel in several departments, including Andy Boal, our leading chemistry scientist and myself, Larry Lemasters, Director of Service.  MIOX shared our practices and procedures and reviewed opportunities to continue to improve those practices with a goal of achieving an Award of Excellence.

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Tunja Water Treatment Plant in Tunja, Colombia

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My MIOX: RIO M3 City: Tunja
Company Name: USA Global Market State:
Name: Country: UNITED STATES
Title: Application: Drinking Water Disinfection
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: USA Global initiated discussions with Proactiva Tunja in early 2012 because this local water management company wanted to move away from chlorine gas to a disinfection solution that is safer for the employees and for the community. Proactiva Tunja is also interested in improving biofilm control in their plant and distribution system.

USA Global Market proposed a MIOX mixed oxidant system to meet both of these needs. While Tunja was very interested to try MIOX on-site generation, they had two reasons for hesitation. First, their standard procurement process requires that they try the full-scale equipment before they buy it. Secondly, they don’t have the budget for a large one-time capital investment. Instead of walking away from the project, USA Global devised a creative way to win the business and to meet the customer’s needs. They leveraged a long standing relationship with a Colombian financial institution called Banco de Occidente. USA Global set up a leasing program with Banco de Occidente that enabled USA Global to purchase the equipment from MIOX based on customized payment terms from MIOX, and offer their customer Proactiva Tunja with a Try and Buy program. USA Global will pay for the leasing program through the first 60-days of operation at the site. When the Try and Buy is successfully completed, Proactiva Tunja will take over the lease with Banco de Occidente.

During the trial period, the Tunja WTP will be evaluating the MIOX system for biofilm control, safety, TTHM reduction and disinfection efficacy, and potential for use in pretreatment. At the end of the 5-year lease Tunja will own their MIOX system and will have already achieved the full return on their investment. MIOX congratulates USA Global for their creative and flexible approach to winning this important customer’s business.

Roatan Island, Honduras

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My MIOX: Mixed Oxidant AE-4 – 3 units City: Sandy Bay Colonia
Company Name: Terra Art Water Operations State: Roatan Island
Name: Chuck Laird Country: HONDURAS
Title: Application: Potable Water
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: I have been maintaining and installing treatment systems professionally for 16 years. I have been installing and using MIOX AE-4 systems for 8 years. I am currently, and have been for the last 6 years living and working on clean water projects in Roatan, Honduras. I have three AE-4 systems treating water that serve poor colonias, small villages, my home and some beach condominiums. The environment here is very hard on equipment. The salt air, high temperature and outrageous humidity destroy computers, cars, cell phones, appliances, TVs and most everything else. The electricity delivered here is very unclean with high volt spiking, running on low voltage and blacking out frequently with surges. I have been very impressed with the performance of the MIOX system in this harsh habitat. The systems safety devises take care of the dirty power and surges. All three systems have shown no adverse corrosion and keep running perfectly with normal maintenance.I have been equally impressed with the longevity of the chlorine residual from the mixed oxidants. Because of pumping and power interruptions many of the colonia residents store water for many days in loosely covered drums. This is a treatment nightmare in a warm moist environment with many mosquitoes. However, even after 5 days there can still be trace amounts of chlorine for safe disinfection. Out of all the systems I have worked with I chose MIOX to work for us in Honduras and it has proven to be a wise choice.

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City of Prestonburg, Kentucky

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My MIOX: Two (2) 500-N units City: Prestonburg
Company Name: Prestonsburg City Utilities Commission (PCUC) State: Kentucky
Name: Donald R. Compton Country: UNITED STATES
Title: Manager Application: Potable Water
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: Prestonsburg City Utilities Commission (PCUC) is a division of the City of Prestonsburg, KY located in Eastern Kentucky approximately 120 miles east of Lexington, Ky. During the year 2005 PCUC entered into an expansion/upgrade project at their Water Treatment Plant (W.T.P.). During this project an array of concerns were discussed about the several options available for the disinfection process. The W.T.P. is located in a residential area and adjacent to a 650 student Middle School. A Nursing Home, State Resort Park, Senior Citizens complex and several hundred homes are inside a radius of one mile from the treatment plant. Safety became a huge factor in the decision making process because of the evacuation area. With safety issues being the number one concern the financial burden of HAZMAT training for all emergency respondents and transportation of the hazardous gas throughout the City would create an additional financial burden on the ratepayers throughout our service area. When on-site storage of chlorine gas was no longer an option other factors needed to be considered. Water quality also became a concern.

Over the past few years PCUC started to develop a limited number of disinfection by-product problems. During the warmer months of the year these problems had become a source of monitoring violations. This also led to an expensive task of public notifications in response to these violations. After several meetings to discuss the available options that remained, PCUC chose the MIOX system. We utilize two (2) 500-N units and a 45 ton salt silo. We also utilize two (2) bulk storage tanks for the daily storage of the finished product. Unfortunately we’ve replaced both storage tanks due to tank failure. The MIOX representatives were very helpful during this changeover. PCUC used all in-house staff to do a self install of the complete disinfectant process units.

MIOX representatives were very helpful and supportive during the installation process. The Prestonsburg City’s Utilities Commission feel very confident in the decision made to use the MIOX system. We have created a much safer environment for not only the employees but the surrounding community. This system was also instrumental in improving water quality issues for our system. We look forward to the opportunity to demonstrate the MIOX system and discuss any/all aspects of the entire installation or the performance of the MIOX system.

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King Salmon Air Force Base, Alaska

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My MIOX: Mixed Oxidant SAL-80 City: King Salmon
Company Name: Chugach World Services State: Alaska
Name: Alan Stonefield Country: UNITED STATES
Title: Stationary Engineer Application: Potable Water
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: We have been very pleased with the MIOX SAL-80. Prior to the MIOX system, we were using sodium hypochlorite (approved drinking water 5.25% bleach) as a disinfectant agent in a large loop distribution system with many dead ends. We were continuously flushing hydrants and dead zone because of dark colored water and low chlorine residual concerns due to low water usage and sporatic levels of manganese and organics in the source water. However, Since the installment of the MIOX Unit in 2007, we noticed very little dark water in the dead zones and the chlorine residual has been more than adequate through out the base. Furthermore, we use very little salt for on site generation of the oxidant. We are very happy and would recommend this product to other drinking water/water treatment plants.

 

Shoshone, Wyoming, Municipal Pipeline 16.5 MGD Water Treatment Plant

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My MIOX: RIO City: Cody
Company Name: Shoshone Municipal Pipeline State: Wyoming
Name: Dave Midthun Country: UNITED STATES
Title: Chief Plant Operator Application: Potable Water
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: Primarily due to safety and liability concerns a decision was made by Shoshone Municipal Pipeline to discontinue chlorine gas disinfection utilizing ton containers. After visiting several facilities utilizing on-site generation and bulk hypochlorite it became apparent on-site generation was the best option for our situation. Plans and specifications were developed by Camp Creek Engineering of Laramie, Wyoming.  Bids from three manufacturers were received for the project and MIOX was chosen as the equipment supplier.

We began feeding generated sodium hypochlorite in March, 2009. On start-up we experienced a couple of issues, the brine tank heater thermostat failed to maintain proper temperature, overheating the brine which caused salt crystallization and clogging. The problem was solved quickly by the tank manufacturer replacing the thermostat with a different type. The external brine supply pump was oversized, upon testing it was found the pump was not necessary as the brine tank provided adequate head to supply the internal brine feed pump. The pump was then re-plumbed to be used for the softened supply water; this resulted in the ability to maintain a very constant supply water pressure to the generator which enhanced the performance significantly. The system was designed to utilize the generators cooling fans to ventilate the bulk storage tanks, this design arrangement was flawed, during periods of shutdown, in the absence of positive pressure from the generator, humid and corrosive gases traveled from the tank into the generator housing , this condition caused noticeable corrosion on the interior metal parts. In hindsight separate external tank ventilation would have been preferred, with generator cooling and tank ventilation being physically separate processes.  MIOX did return on-site and replaced all of the corroded parts and installed a better method of tank isolation, using a drip leg and enhanced valve arrangement. To date no noticeable corrosion has been detected.

The problems we experienced with our equipment were resolved promptly by the very helpful MIOX staff and have since performed commendably.  We are extremely pleased with our on-site generation system; it produces a stable, effective and safe product. Maintenance costs and labor have been drastically reduced when compared to the gas chlorine feed system. The peace of mind from not having dangerous chlorine gas on-site was reason enough to switch to on-site hypochlorite generation.

 

Lakehaven Utility, Mixed Oxidant RIO (Lakota WWTP)

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My MIOX: Mixed Oxidant RIO  (Lakota WWTP) City: Federal Way
Company Name: Lakehaven Utility State: Washington
Name: Chris McCalib Country: UNITED STATES
Title: Wastewater Operations Manager Application: Potable Water
MY MIOX EXPERIENCE: Safety issues was one of our biggest motivators plus managing the operational costs of the current system. We eliminated the need to manually transfer/exchange 1 ton cylinders of chlorine gas at the facility. Due to the fact the District did not have Process safety or Risk Management procedures in place we had to stay below the 1500 pound   chlorine threshold to be incompliance, suppliers to comply with this requirement were scarce. Cost to retrofit the Lakota WWTP with provisions such as RMP or PSM was estimated over $500,000. Buy our engineering consultant.  MIOX was very unique in offering the available alternative methods of purchasing the equipment, we found that the capital lease option offered saved the district over $12,000. In annual O and M costs of the current chlorine/chemical system. These savings coupled with the offset of not requiring the District to obtain the safety requirements projecting the project life cycle savings at over 1.3 million dollars.

We have found in the first month of operation that the mixed oxidants are on average 25-30% more effective on controlling the filamentous foaming/bulking organisms in our activated sludge process compared to chlorine gas. This is something we had hoped but did not account for in our cost savings projection thus making our savings greater than anticipated. We are very happy with the performance, ease of installation, technical support, and overall user friendliness of the MIOX system.