Online instruments help water utilities control water treatment operations. CEO Rick Bacon of Aqua Metrology Systems explains how utilities rely on sensors to meet water quality compliance standards and optimize operational performance in the May/June 2019 issue of World Water.

As regulatory requirements and the availability of more accurate diagnostic technologies continue to push the legal threshold limit of contaminants, utilities are turning to high-frequency data to identify contaminant threats and diagnose critical treatment system performance. Learn how El Paso Water’s Upper Valley Water Treatment Plant was able to meet regulatory requirements with the help of AMS’s MetalGuard™ automated, online arsenic analyzers.

Water & Wastes Digest Associate Editor Sara Myers recently spoke with Rick Bacon, CEO of Aqua Metrology Systems, about AMS’ SafeGuard H2O innovative remediation system and its proven ability to address a range of trace metal contaminants, including ionic mercury. The system offers a cost-effective alternative to highly challenging and expensive existing mercury removal processes. Read more here.

Aqua Metrology Systems’ innovative mercury remediation system, SafeGuard H2O, proven to address dissolved (ionic) mercury from power plant wastewater, was recently featured in Power magazine. SafeGuard H2O is a proprietary approach based on electrolytic stannous reagent generation on demand, making it free of the drawbacks of using a traditional stannous chloride reagent while providing a simple, efficient and cost-effective alternative to highly challenging and expensive existing mercury treatment processes.

2018 was a busy year for AMS. We raised awareness about the value of real-time, online high-density data to determine the presence of water-borne contaminants and began deployment of our own patented Intelligent Water Treatment System for chromium, mercury, lead and selenium remediation. In 2019, we anticipate wider adoption of our online contaminant analyzers in North America and Europe and plan to broaden access to safe drinking water through innovative drinking and wastewater treatment technologies.

For trace metal contamination found at legacy mines, AMS offers a novel online water quality analyzer for accurate and reliable data on As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Se, Ni, Hg, V, Zn and more. The system features a self-calibrating and autonomous sensor, making it ideal for installation in remote, inaccessible locations.

Intelligent water treatment systems incorporate real-time sensing to ensure that their performance is optimized to avoid under- or over-treatment and that any deterioration in system performance is signaled to permit timely remedial intervention.

Wastewater Treatment Plants facing stringent effluent permit limits for ammonia, nitrogen and THMs can benefit from using online THM analyzers. Measurement of THM levels in the effluent prior to and following the chlorine injection point is necessary as utilities work to reduce DBP formation while minimizing nitrogen and ammonia levels. The introduction of an online THM analyzer for use in wastewater applications now enables WWTPs to characterize THM values in real-time.

In a newly released Water Research Foundation (WRF) report, TTHM concentration results from the THM-100™ analyzer yielded excellent results. Throughout the duration of the demonstration testing, results obtained from the AMS THM-100™ analyzer were within ± 10% of laboratory results. In addition to the TTHM concentrations, the individual THM species concentrations also matched very well between the AMS instrument and the laboratory.

Evaluation of the field TTHM analytical instruments demonstrated that these instruments are easy to install and operate, can generate TTHM results quickly, and most importantly accurate and precise.

WRF Report Reducing Volatile Disinfection By-Products in Treated Drinking Water Using Aeration Technologies (Report #4441) © 2015 Water Research Foundation.

Real-time data and analytical information from online instruments help utilities comply with water quality regulations. The complete article detailing how online water quality instruments are poised for growth was published in the March/April 2015 issue of World Water.