AMS

Approximately 50% of water and wastewater utilities experience delays in chemical availability due to supply chain disruptions. According to McKinsey & Company’s January 2023 Chemicals Practice Insight “A new operations formula for the chemicals sector,” 2022 was a tumultuous year for the global chemical sector which faced spiraling costs, looming skills shortage, and pressure for decarbonization. So, what does this all mean for the water industry? In this episode of AMS Talks AMS CEO Rick Bacon and Industry Consultant Nadia Abboud discuss critical chemical supply chain risk and explore solutions to help mitigate exposure to those risks in the water industry.

While the EPA is reviewing its MCL recommendations for arsenic, utilities are preparing for the possibility of a more stringent federal standard by evaluating the efficacy of their existing arsenic removal treatment systems. Concerned with having to increase their reliance on bulk chemicals to meet a lower arsenic MCL and the associated inherent concerns, the City of Alamosa evaluated the SafeGuard™ H2O technology that generates a ferrous reagent in-situ. The technology shows great promise for utilities looking to remove As to low levels and eliminate reliance on hazardous bulk chemicals. Through bench-scale testing and a technology demonstration of this novel system, the City of Alamosa has shown it can achieve arsenic removal below 5 ppb with a ferrous dose of 6.5-8 mg/L.

The Bilbao Bizkaia Advanced Water Treatment Centre (CATABB) in Etxebarri, Bizkaia, Spain, is an open platform for innovation and research in water treatment that was designed and built by the Bilbao Bizkaia Water Consortium (BBWC) in 2018. To aid CATABB in a study to better understand the adsorption and desorption process of their GAC filters, an online THM-100™ analyzer was installed at the facility to quickly deliver accurate and reliable data on THM levels. According to BBWC, thanks to the online THM-100™ analyzer, staff in the CATABB facility has been able to quickly detect variations in the THMs concentration and have a greater control of the water quality. In addition, the online THM-100™ analyzer has become a very useful tool for current and future research in the study of the generation of disinfection by-products, and it will enable the opening of new lines of research and collaboration at CATABB.

AMS is at forefront of digitalization in the water sector. AMS enters 2023 with several significant achievements in 2022 that position it for a broad-based and robust growth of its AMS Analytics and AMS Environment divisions in 2023 and beyond. In this exclusive piece “Driving Digitalization in the Water Sector to Transform the Way We Treat Water,” Rick Bacon, CEO of AMS, shares how AMS is helping transform the way we treat water by providing facilities with proven solutions that will improve their energy efficiency and help them control their GHG emissions.

In December 2022, the State of California published its long-awaited recommendation for a regulatory limit for hexavalent chromium (Cr6) in water of 10 parts per billion. According to the California State Water Resources Control Board, there are more than 2,600 community systems with elevated Cr6 levels serving nearly 13 million people.

This proposed regulation unequivocally identifies AMS and its in-situ stannous generation technology, SafeGuard™ H2O, as the best available technology to treat Cr6 and provide safe drinking water to the millions of consumers across California, many of whom live in underserved communities.

SafeGuard™ H2O has been thoroughly evaluated and proven to reduce Cr6 to non-detect levels. The technology features an automated treatment design that incorporates real-time online Cr6 monitoring to ensure regulatory standards are met continuously.

Watch the latest episode of AMS Talks featuring AMS CEO Rick Bacon and Industry Consultant Nadia Abboud who discuss how this proven and cost-effective solution can treat most of the wells with high Cr6 levels, giving a peace of mind to water utilities impacted by this new regulation.

The Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department in Arizona, is using the THM-100™ online THM analyzer to continuously, accurately and reliability monitor THM values in real-time at its Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility.

Currently, the EPA is reviewing its MCL recommendations for arsenic since technological advancements such as the SafeGuard™ H2O now make it possible to economically treat to levels of 5 ppb and lower. SafeGuard™ H2O is proven to eliminate arsenic and drastically reduce the cost of removing this toxic contaminant from drinking water supplies. The SafeGuard™ H2O arsenic treatment system generates a ferric reagent in-situ through a simple, effective and sustainable process.

In the Fall of 2022, the Joshua Basin Water District undertook a demonstration of the SafeGuard™ H2O technology to reduce Cr6 down to non-detect levels. SafeGuard H2O proved to be a highly automated process that provided accurate and reliable in-situ reagent generation to reduce Cr6 to below 1 ppb. The capability of SafeGuard H2O to consistently remove Cr6 to non-detect levels creates the opportunity for Joshua Basin Water District and other utilities to blend water from Cr6-contaminated wells and achieve overall system compliance. With SafeGuard H2O, the capital cost of bringing a system into Cr6 compliance can be mitigated by eliminating the need for treatment at all wells.

The THM-100™ online THM analyzer has played an important role in Aigües de Barcelona’s compliance and ESG strategy. Since 2014 Aigües de Barcelona has been using real-time THM data from the online THM analyzer to manage disinfection byproducts within its extensive network, minimize energy costs and reduce carbon footprint.

Facilities can enhance their data quality assurance program by remotely monitoring the health of their water and wastewater quality instruments with the SafeGuard™ Sentinel conditional monitoring system for online analyzers. SafeGuard™ Sentinel is a universal solution for Modbus enabled analyzers; providing accurate and reliable 24/7/365 conditional monitoring data that helps facilities to predict unforeseen early failures, better plan for maintenance and keep essential infrastructure running at minimal costs.