In this episode of AMS Talks, Industry Consultant Nadia Abboud speaks with Rick Bacon, CEO of Aqua Metrology Systems (AMS), about the significance and impact of the company’s recent achievements and award recognitions. First, AMS was selected by Sacyr iChallenges for its open innovation programs as one of the three companies appointed as Sacyr’s global partner for online water quality monitoring. In addition, it was recently announced that AMS was chosen as the North & Northwest Breakthrough Winner of The Spectator Economic Innovator of the Year Award in partnership with Investec.

With increasing concerns about the quality of bulk reagents such as bulk ferric chemicals that are widely used in the water treatment industry, utilities are seeking alternative, more carbon neutral, and environmentally friendly treatment methods. AMS’ SafeGuard™ H2O technology is a sustainable alternative that responds to that need. SafeGuard™ H2O has numerous advantages over traditional coagulation processes that depend on bulk ferric chloride. The system’s on-site generation of a ferrous/ferric reagent requires a smaller footprint, and it offers greater reliability to utilities looking to reduce GHG emissions. SafeGuard™ H2O also has a 30 – 50% lifetime cost advantage, considering the cost of purchasing bulk chemicals, manual process supervision, and waste disposal. SafeGuard™ H2O is poised to replace the use of hazardous bulk reagents since it does not compromise the quality of drinking water, harm the environment and it can be produced using renewable energy sources and stored for later use when these are unavailable.

SafeGuard™ H2O is a proven solution for utilities looking to reduce GHG emissions and remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to non-detect levels while lowering the cost of treatment (energy and operation). SafeGuard™ H2O can be powered by renewable energy, and tin sulfide, a valuable resource to multiple industries, can be recovered from the process. As a low-carbon approach to H2S removal, SafeGuard™ H2O has achieved 100% removal of H2S from reverse osmosis treated water and raw water supplies.

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A SafeGuard™ H2O demonstration system with a capacity of 3 gpm (150 mL/minute) was installed onsite for testing at the City of Banning’s Facility Well C2 from June-September 2022. The scope of this demonstration focused on the safe, reliable reduction of Cr6 to Cr3 using SafeGuard™ H2O electrogenerated stannous reagent.  The demonstration validated the effectiveness of the SafeGuard™ H2O technology to treat Cr6 and Cr(T) below 10 ppb, granting it conditional acceptance from the California SWRCB Division of Drinking Water for use of the technology by public drinking water systems to treat Cr6 contamination.

A recent demonstration at the City of Banning, California, validated the effectiveness of the AMS SafeGuard™ H2O technology to treat Cr6 and Cr(T) below 10 ppb, granting it conditional acceptance from the California SWRCB Division of Drinking Water for use of the technology by public drinking water systems to treat Cr6 contamination. SafeGuard™ H2O generates a non-toxic stannous reagent on demand via an electrolytic process, offering utilities of all sizes an affordable, effective and sustainable Cr6 remediation solution.

MetalGuard™ Iron is the first fully automated, online iron analyzer that provides dependable real-time data on dissolved, organic and total iron levels to support the delivery of safe drinking water and monitor corrosion in water transport systems. With reliable, continuous, high-frequency data on influent and effluent iron levels, MetalGuard™ Iron aids in the control and optimization of water treatment and iron contamination removal processes.

The City of Alamosa, Colorado, evaluated the SafeGuard™ H2O arsenic removal technology to replace the use of bulk ferric chloride. The evaluation demonstrated the technology’s ability to provide effective and reliable arsenic removal below 5 ppb with a ferrous dose of 6.5-8 mg/L that was generated on-site and on-demand. The demonstration also evaluated the purity of the in-situ electrogenerated ferrous reagent compared to bulk ferric chloride, showing SafeGuard™ H2O’s ferrous reagent precursor to be of higher quality. In this episode of AMS Talks, Industry Consultant Nadia Abboud speaks with Roy Sanchez, CWP, Water Plant Operator for the City of Alamosa, and Dr. Vladimir Dozortsev, Senior Product Manager for AMS, who discuss insights about this project and what prompted the City of Alamosa to undertake this arsenic removal demonstration.

Ferric chloride is a water treatment chemical widely used to remove impurities in water and wastewater. While ferric chloride is effective and approved for use in a range of applications, there is a lack of adequate quality controls and certification for this bulk chemical. Ferric chloride contains a range of contaminants, including manganese, chromium, arsenic, zinc, lead, and copper that can be found in high concentrations and can be very harmful to human health. In addition, ferric chloride is an extremely corrosive and potentially hazardous substance that requires it to be handled and stored with care, driving the cost of treatment. In this episode of AMS Talks, Rick Bacon, CEO of AMS, and Industry Consultant Nadia Abboud discuss the use of ferric chloride as a water treatment chemical, and the need for alternative solutions that do not contaminate our water supply.

Concerned with its reliance on bulk chemicals to meet the current or future arsenic MCL, the City of Alamosa evaluated the SafeGuard™ H2O arsenic removal treatment system to replace the use of bulk ferric chloride. The bench-scale test characterized the efficacy of the technology and the coagulation filtration requirements. The demonstration was initiated to show the ability of SafeGuard™ H2O to provide effective and reliable arsenic removal below the MCL, evaluate the purity of the in-situ generated ferrous reagent compared to bulk ferric chloride, and study the impact of both reagents on UF membrane health.