No More Nitrates

Some contaminants are more difficult to detect than others. While some give off an offensive odor or taste, others are completely undetectable by the senses. Nitrate is one such contaminant.

Nitrates can come from a number of sources, making their presence in water almost unavoidable.

“Plants need nutrients to survive and farmers add nitrate fertilizer in soil to increase crop production,” said Khushbu Karan, applications engineer for AdEdge.  “Therefore, one of the common sources of nitrates is from crop plants.”

Another source of nitrates are plants that consume nitrogen in the air and pass it to the ground through their roots.  

Sewage and human and animal waste can also be a source of nitrates, as the nitrogen often present in septic system effluent is converted to ammonia in soil. The bacteria in the soil then convert the ammonia to nitrates.

“As we all know, excess of anything is not good,” said Karan. “When excess nitrates that remain unused by plants percolate through the soil into groundwater, nitrate contamination occurs.”

Much like the odorless, tasteless and colorless contaminants of uranium and arsenic, nitrate also lacks any telltale signs. It can only be detected through laboratory testing.

Nitrates can lead to serious health risks, particularly for livestock and infants younger than 6 months old.

“Babies are more susceptible to nitrate poisoning since they have nitrate bacteria present in (their) stomach(s) that convert nitrates to nitrites that are non-carriers of oxygen,” Karan said. “It can therefore cause suffocation and breathing problems in them, leading to serious health problems.”

Luckily, AdEdge has several nitrate removal options, which suit almost any application.

The ADNO3 IX anion exchange selective resin is supplied in moist, tough, uniform spherical beads, which remove nitrates without the expense of nitrate dumping. The media is NSF/ANSI-61 certified and is ideal for use in drinking water, non-potable water and environmental remediation applications.

“AdEdge also offers reverse osmosis membrane solutions using advanced membrane technology coupled with packaged treatment modules for a complete integrated solution,” Khushbu said. “It can serve a variety of applications including drinking water, mining, boiler feed and remediation.” A reverse osmosis system reduces total dissolved solids, which include nitrates, total suspended solids, pathogens and other contaminants. The package consists of both chemical and mechanical pretreatment for long-term membrane operation and performance.

It is important to regularly test your water supply to ensure its safety and compliance with federal standards. In the United States, that standard is 10 mg/L for nitrate as nitrogen.

If your water supply contains elevated levels of this invisible pest, contact AdEdge for a customized treatment solution to bring your water back to a clean, safe and healthy state.

Getting to Know Rich Cavagnaro

Behind the scenes of every great company is a team of hard-working individuals who are dedicated to their jobs. AdEdge is no exception. With a staff committed to providing clean, safe water to their customers, AdEdge would like to give you a glimpse into our employees. Find out what they do, what they love about AdEdge and how they spend their time off the clock.

To kick off the Q&As, we thought we’d start with our award-winning fearless leader. Rich Cavagnaro, president of AdEdge, was recently named the Metro Atlanta Chamber Business Person of the Year in the Experienced Entrepreneur category. Each year, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Atlanta Business Chronicle honor outstanding business professionals from around metro Atlanta. With more than 25 years of international business experience, Rich works every day to help the company and its employees meet their goals.

  

Name:

Rich Cavagnaro

What is your job title?

President.

How long have you been with AdEdge?

Since the beginning. In the summer of 2002, Greg Gilles and I, along with two other individuals, joined together to start the company.

Describe your typical workday.

First of all, there is no typical day! In the first part of the day I like to think about my plan for the day, have brief discussions of five minutes or less with several staff members to understand some of their pressing issues and then create a “get-done” list. After that I like to start tackling the list, recognizing which items are priorities. On most days I enjoy walking around and asking staff at all levels what they are working on and what challenges they face.

A big portion of my time is spent understanding how well we are executing toward our company goals. Many members of our staff have their nose to the grindstone, so I try to keep my head up and see where we are heading in the next 30 days, three months and the next 12 months. I have tremendous faith in my management team and try not be redundant or a roadblock to their execution, but I do spend a portion of my day reviewing the dashboard of key financial metrics.

What is your favorite part about working for AdEdge?

Seeing the growth of the company is very gratifying of course, but seeing the growth of our people is truly a rewarding experience. But most of all I try to remind our team the importance of our company’s core value for a passion for clean water. When we get testimonials from our customers that we have done a great job and really have improved their situation, that is my favorite part about working at AdEdge.

What is the most rewarding project you’ve worked on?

Our project in San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina for a community of 6,000 people that had arsenic levels approaching 300 parts per billion (ppb). That we were able to reduce that level to acceptable levels of less than 10 ppb is a signature achievement for AdEdge. This project was done in tandem with a Christian charity, and we subsequently created our own charity called Helping Hands for Water to further assist the project.

A documentary was filmed during the course of the project, which lasted several years. The documentary, titled “Troubled Waters,” premiered this past year and at the conclusion of the film the joy of a passion for clean water is ever present, as the last comment states: “The life expectancy of the people in San Antonio de los Cobres is expected to double.”

Favorite weekend activity:

Spending time with friends and/or family and trying to stir a little controversy.

Something your coworkers would be surprised to learn about you:

As a freshman in high school, I pole-vaulted 9-feet 6-inches—a record that stood for many years!

Creating a Personalized Membrane System

Reverse osmosis system in New Mexico

Membrane technology is just one of many options AdEdge offers to decontaminate water supplies. Whether you require high quality drinking water for a municipal water utility or consistently pure water for bottling and drinking, AdEdge can design and build a customized membrane solution to meet your site’s treatment needs.

AdEdge offers ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane systems for a variety of industrial, municipal and mining applications. For reducing total dissolved solids (TDS), RO is the perfect choice.

When designing a RO system, we begin with the basics. AdEdge’s team of experts first analyzes the water’s quality and temperature to determine the system’s operating pressure and other elements of the design.

“The RO projection will dictate the operating pressure required by the high pressure RO pump, how many membranes are required, chemical feed requirements and the system array, which is the membrane layout,” said Doug Craver, AdEdge’s Western Region Sales Manager.

Sometimes the water is contaminated with minerals that can harm the surface of the membrane. RO pretreatment is often necessary to treat these contaminants before they have a chance to cause any damage.

Chlorine is one such mineral that can be trouble for an RO system.

“Chlorine is an oxidizer and present in most potable water supplies and, if not removed, this will actually oxidize the membrane surface creating ‘micro-holes’ in the membrane surface,” Craver said. “Where other contaminants plug the membranes, this will actually do the opposite and will ultimately allow more TDS and contaminants to pass through the membranes.”

For effective pretreatment, our RO systems can be integrated with our other treatment technologies to ensure successful removal of harmful contaminants in one convenient system. AdEdge also offers antiscalants to curb buildup on the membrane and soften the water.

Much like our other treatment systems, RO systems are skid-mounted and pre-plumbed, pre-wired and tested before they are shipped to your site. Using a forklift or other heavy lifting equipment, the contractor can simply consult the supplied AutoCAD drawings of the system, making installation a breeze.

Membrane technology is an ideal solution for treating tap, well or surface water applications to produce highly purified water across all industries. Contact AdEdge and let one of our experienced engineers design a custom solution that fits your needs.

Understanding Membrane Treatment

Ultrafiltration system

When it comes to water treatment, there is never a shortage of options available for consumers. Membrane filtration is one item on AdEdge’s long list of treatment solutions designed to produce clean, safe water. But what exactly is membrane treatment and how can it benefit your water supply?

Simply put, in a membrane system, water is forced through a material that is designed to only allow pure water to pass through, leaving the contaminants behind.

No matter the industry, if highly purified water is needed, membrane treatment is an ideal solution. From car washes seeking a spot-free rinse, to the pristine irrigation systems on the green lawns of golf courses, a membrane system can deliver water that is free of fluoride, nitrates, arsenic and total dissolved solids (TDS).

Looking for water that is good enough to drink? Membrane treatment is also great for potable water applications such as restaurants, hotels, schools and resorts.

Reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UF) are the two most common methods of membrane treatment.

“Many products fabricated require high purity water for various aspects of the process, so RO is the most cost effective technology available for reduction of TDS from well and or potable water supplies,” said Doug Craver, Western Region Sales Manager for AdEdge.

An RO system can also help water utilities stay in line with federal regulations when certain contaminants are present at levels higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant levels. And multiple contaminants are no problem, according to Craver, as RO technology can be combined with other treatment methods into one system for decontamination.

“Depending on the contaminants present, RO can be used by itself to reduce several contaminants at one time or can be used in conjunction with filtration systems to meet the required parameters,” Craver explained.

Ultrafiltration membrane systems, on the other hand, reduce organics and turbidity to bring surface water supplies up to drinking water quality. They are also used to reclaim wastewater for reuse or groundwater recharge. Large particles won’t pass through UF membranes, but ions and small organics will flow through with ease.

AdEdge designs custom membrane treatment solutions that are effective under a variety of conditions and can be combined with other AdEdge treatment technologies for complete contaminant removal. Let us design a membrane system that is right for your water supply.

Taking the Reins

White Horse Youth Ranch in Las Vegas

AdEdge offers numerous custom membrane treatment solutions for reducing total dissolved solids (TDS) in a variety of applications. In 2011, AdEdge was contacted to design a solution for a Las Vegas ranch.

The White Horse Youth Ranch offers underprivileged youth in the area an opportunity to develop respect, trust, responsibility and discipline through learning how to care for and ride a horse.

When some of the horses began getting sick and not eating, they were moved off the ranch and treated. Upon returning to the ranch, they became sick again.

After testing the groundwater, high concentrations of TDS, arsenic and sulfates were found on the property.

The raw water at the ranch has a TDS concentration of 3,680 mg/L. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) maximum contaminant level (MCL) for TDS is 500 mg/L. The arsenic concentration of 0.028 mg/L and the sulfate level of 1,800 mg/L were also well above the MCL of 0.01 mg/L and 250 mg/L, respectively.

“Prior to treating the groundwater supply, they had taken their horses off the ranch’s property and were housing them elsewhere,” said Chad Miller, applications engineer for AdEdge. “Essentially the ranch was shut down until an alternative water source could be identified or treatment of their existing water supply could bring the water to quality.”

The ranch’s owners contacted AdEdge for a treatment solution. By implementing a skid-mounted AdEdge reverse osmosis (RO) unit, AdEdge was able to reduce the facility’s arsenic, sulfate and TDS levels to well below the EPA standards.

AdEdge designed a unit sized for 28 gallons per minute—the size of the existing well’s distribution system. From the well, water is pumped into a 120-gallon hyponeumatic tank that controls pressure.

To eliminate any materials that could potentially clog the membrane, an anti-scalant is injected into the water. From there, it flows into a sediment filter to remove any organics before reaching the RO system, which is made of six 5-inch by 40-inch membranes stacked on top of each other. 

Since the system was started up in October 2011, it has reduced the arsenic concentration to an undetectable level, and the TDS and sulfates have been reduced to well below the EPA’s standard. Today, the White Horse Youth Ranch can continue to its mission to teach important life skills to underprivileged youth with healthy horses.

Contact AdEdge to design a custom membrane treatment system for your site.

Whole-House Arsenic Removal

AdVantEdge Medallion Series point-of-entry system

While point-of-use residential treatment systems treat water at the tap, point-of-entry (POE) systems treat water as it enters the home, ensuring safe, clean water throughout the entire house.

If a home has more than 50 ppb of arsenic or the homeowners are looking for one treatment solution to remove arsenic from every sink, shower and appliance in the home, a POE system is ideal.

The AdVantEdge Medallion Series of POE residential arsenic treatment systems use AdEdge’s Bayoxide E33 adsorption media to safely and effectively remove arsenic from drinking water throughout the entire home.

The system is available in 5-, 7- and 10-gpm sizes, to accommodate household and light commercial applications.

The pre-designed, pre-packaged Medallion system reduces up to 99% of Arsenic (III) and Arsenic (V) without the use of regeneration chemicals, salt or additives. Only periodic backwashing is required and the spent media can be discarded as non-hazardous household waste.

For homeowners with more than just arsenic in their water supply, the Medallion series is compatible with other residential treatment solutions, providing a fully integrated water treatment system.

Contact AdEdge or a local AdVantEdge dealer to rid your entire house of arsenic today.

Treated at the Tap

AdVantEdge DWS-4510 point-of-use system

While most of our products treat water well before it ever reaches a customer’s house, we also offer products that will decontaminate drinking water right at the tap.

For homes with less than 50 ppb of arsenic in their drinking water, an under-the-counter point-of-use (POU) household treatment solution may be the best option for clean, safe and great-tasting water.

AdEdge offers a number of POU systems designed for a variety of flow sizes that can be installed under any sink in a home. With these systems, in the kitchen for instance, homeowners can rest assured that the water they use for cooking, making coffee or washing dishes is virtually contaminant-free.

The AdVantEdge Dual Series is a multi-functional integrated system with a two-stage treatment approach for contaminant removal. With the three different models of the Dual Series system, arsenic, sediment and chlorine can be eliminated, while a taste- and odor-control reduction method ensures refreshing drinking water right from the tap.

For a higher capacity solution, the AdVantEdge 4510 undercounter system removes contaminants with a cartridge that lasts up to 12 months or 3,000 gallons—whichever comes first.

The AdVantEdge Plus POU system offers an advanced, cost-effective solution, which is proven to remove 57 contaminants for about 8 cents a gallon. The solid block carbon filtration provides extra efficient contaminant reduction, and a digital flowmeter will automatically shut the system off when 960 gallons have been treated and a new filter is needed.

Replacement cartridges can be purchased through any authorized AdVantEdge dealer and an AdEdge residential products expert can help determine which is best for your water supply.

Contact an AdVantEdge dealer today to find the best under-the-counter solution for clean, safe drinking water.

Bring AdEdge Home

AdVantEdge DWS-2S2710-01 point-of-use system

Our water treatment technologies are perfect for municipal, industrial and commercial applications. But we also offer residential treatment with our AdVantEdge line of products, designed to remove arsenic from household drinking water.

“Residential water treatment is important for those who access water from unregulated water sources,” says Carolyn Spencer, customer service manager for AdEdge. “Regular testing of the wells could reveal elevated levels of contaminants that could pose either health concerns or aesthetic issues in homes. Many contaminants are not visible to the naked eye.”

Arsenic is one such contaminant. It is odorless and colorless, and can lead to serious health problems if consumed in large amounts. A certified water system dealer should test the water to determine whether an in-home treatment system is needed.

If a home’s water supply is found to have elevated arsenic levels, AdEdge can help.

The AdVantEdge line of residential water treatment options is available as either point-of-use or point-of-entry systems and is specifically designed for the removal of arsenic using AdEdge’s proven technology.

“Our residential treatment systems feature our E33 granular ferric oxide media, which has been installed in more than 500 systems throughout the United States and throughout the world,” Spencer says. “This media was rated the highest-performing arsenic removal media by a third party testing lab.”

For the treatment of other household contaminants, Spencer notes that AdEdge will work with a customer’s local dealer to determine the best system for each particular application.

“Our treatment systems work in conjunction with other residential treatment solutions to provide a fully integrated water treatment system,” Spencer says.

Let us help you find the best residential water treatment system for your home. Contact your local AdEdge dealer and be on your way to cleaner, safer water.

World Water Day Series #8 - “We Know the Value of Water When the Well is Dry” Ben Franklin

By Rich Cavagnaro, President

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. 

World Water Day 2013 is here and as we think of the many issues facing the water industry in the coming year(s), Steve Maxwell author of “The Future of Water” has said, “one thing for sure is known, we are inevitably faced with the challenge that water is going to cost more…the question is how much more?”

In the United States, we are faced with an aging infrastructure, new regulations, water scarcity issues, climate change challenges, lack of funding and operator staffing needs. These issues aren't unique to the U.S. and the rest of the world faces similar challenges and likely may be in worse shape due to the lack of existing infrastructure. Population growth in many countries coupled with emerging water stressed regions is causing havoc on communities to even survive and can cripple their economic development. The financial hurdle to fund this infrastructure ensuring safe drinking water or proper wastewater treatment systems is not readily available. Therefore the cost of funding these projects will have a cost associated with it.

AdEdge has been meeting these challenges with our customers around the world by offering treatment technologies to remove a multitude of contaminants including arsenic, iron, uranium, VOC’s and many others. We design our systems to: minimize energy consumption, conserve water, lessen or eliminate operator resources, choose technologies that lower capital costs, and to protect our customers on increasing water rates by offering water reuse capabilities.

So, while water remains under appreciated and undervalued, our customers are not. Our staff constantly rises to the challenge of working with our clients around the world to create a positive impact on their water treatment needs and thereby ensuring we carry out and share our Passion for Clean Water.

World Water Day Series #7 - Clean, Safe Drinking Water is a Basic Human Right

By Richard J. Cavagnaro, Marketing Coordinator

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

A little less than two years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to the Navajo Nation in Arizona with Helping Hands for Water, a non-profit group started by a group of employees at AdEdge. I spent three days in the remote desert along with two other members of the non-profit doing a site visit for a community we are working with to provide a uranium treatment system. In order to fully understand the problem with the drinking water and how it influences everyday life in this community, we decided to fully immerse ourselves into the Navajo lifestyle. We toured abandoned uranium mines, visited several wells contaminated with arsenic and uranium, but the most impactful part of the experience was talking with the members of the community to get their perspective on the water crisis. Some people on the reservation travel over an hour to fill up containers of water and unfortunately, for many of these people, the only option is contaminated water.

It’s reported that this well is causing congestive heart failure, cancer and kidney failure among those who depend upon it as their primary water source. One woman I met with goes to a funeral every month because of a water-related death. Another woman informed me that her seven-year-old daughter had a ten-pound tumor removed from her thyroid earlier in the year. Generations of Navajos have lived on the same land for decades and many are worried this generation may be the last.

The sad thing is this community is not alone. Tens of thousands of communities throughout the world only have access to water that is contaminated. That is their only option. In 2013, it should be a basic human right to have access to clean and safe drinking water. We at AdEdge are continuing to do our part to ensure every single person on this planet can have drinking water free of contamination so generations can grow up healthy.

World Water Day #6 - Containerized Systems: Perfect Solutions for Remote Locations

Eric Nicol, Project Manager

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

The increasing pursuit of natural resources – oil and gas as well as mining exploration for metals and precious gems – throughout the world is creating a greater need for clean water solutions in remote areas; however, this increasing demand comes with specific needs to support mining camps with potable water or to provide remediation treatment equipment for mine dewatering. AdEdge designed a unique and economical solution to meet the rising need of clean water in this industry called the WaterPod. The WaterPod is customizable and can be configured in a 10’, 20’, 40’ or 50’ length to house the treatment equipment – pumps, tanks, controls and other ancillary equipment—required for the site needs. Multiple WaterPods can also be configured in a single site to meet the demand.

The basis of the WaterPod design begins with a standard seafaring shipping container, which is then outfitted with insulation, HVAC equipment, man-doors, windows, and lighting. This design platform allows AdEdge to incorporate multiple treatment technologies into single or multiple units such as reverse osmosis, oxidation/filtration, coagulation/filtration, ion exchange, UV as well as our InGenius control system and any required chemical feed or regenerant equipment. This approach allows AdEdge to fully control installation, quality control and factory testing of each individual component in our controlled environment facility ensuring the WaterPod arrives without defect. WaterPods are dropped on location with minimal infrastructure requirements for a true plug and play approach for quickly achieving the water needs and quality goals of the location.

World Water Day # 5 - Staffing Needs For SWS - How Remote Monitoring Can Bridge the Gap

By Antonio Inojal, Project Engineer

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

In today’s digital age of the internet, smart mobile devices, and an ever-expanding cellular network, the water industry is evolving to make use of technology to improve how operators manage water treatment systems. Although the concept of remote monitoring is not new, it has certainly gained momentum by technologies such as M2M and VPN. Municipalities managing small water systems often do not have the resources to install a complete SCADA system to monitor all of their treatment sites, wells and pumps. Therefore they depend on their operators to arrange regular travel to remote sites to perform monitoring and check system statuses and alarms. AdEdge Water Technologies integrates advanced industrial controls technologies to bring remote monitoring solutions for AdEdge treatment systems.

The site’s internet access is crucial in establishing remote connectivity to the treatment system, and this can come in a number of ways. DSL is widely available by phone companies and has become quite commonplace. Alternatively where DSL or other technologies are not available, a cellular modem may be planned contingent on the availability of cellular service on-site. One particular drawback with cellular connectivity is that cellular companies are not likely to assign a static IP to a SIM card. This is commonly handled by quite inexpensive services likely DynDNS. Once internet access is granted, the AdEdge treatment system can be set-up to allow the operator to access the HMI’s built-in server through a web browser, which allows the operator to look at the screens in near real-time, move through the screens, and even make modifications. The extent of how much the logged-in user can do is based on what has been allowed in the set-up of the HMI. Moreover, the HMI can be configured to send emails when particular events such as alarms are triggered. One of the emails where the alarm message is conveyed may be the one associated with the operator’s cell phone, which can be used to send a text message; the latter is an effective alternative to auto-dialers. In addition, the HMI can also be accessed through mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads, which allow operators to be at one job-site and “respond” using their phone to issues occurring at another site without having to actually travel there. The possibilities are growing; our generation is becoming more mobile and tech-savvy. AdEdge is helping the water industry become more connected.

World Water Day Series #4 - Two Types of Green

By Paul Matz, Senior Project Engineer

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

AdEdge Technologies’ mission is to help people get clean drinking water and provide water suitable for use in a myriad of businesses.    In today’s news where the economy is front and center, World Water Day is a light that shines on our company’s mission and adds it to the hot topics: The economy.   Water and money are all very important issues that we help our clients deal with every day at AdEdge.  Municipalities charge money for the delivery of clean water for use in homes and businesses.  Municipalities charge money for the opportunity to treat and clean the waste we send into the sewers.   In areas where municipal water sources are not available, water must be pumped, treated and monitored independently.  And it feels like the prices for these services increase year after year in order to keep up with demand and inflation which adds additional stresses in today’s economic times. 

At AdEdge, we have seen an uptick in communities and companies looking for ways to reduce costs and find ways to safely treat and reuse water while increasing their GREEN status.     At AdEdge, we have increased the number of pilot studies we do to address requests by clients to investigate their options to save money and increase their GREEN business portfolios and everyone has been very happy with the results.

Water Water Day Series #3 - The Future is Now: Climate Change and Its Effect on Water Availability

By Myron Petro, Field Technician

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

Water availability is becoming an increasingly important issue due to the effects of Climate Change. Warmer average temperatures will, in effect, allow the atmosphere to hold more water. This may cause shifts in precipitation patterns, which will further dry out some areas, while increasing overall rainfall amounts in others. Decreased precipitation in arid regions will add to the already high demand for available water. Other areas where increased rainfall is perceived to be good, will see problems due to increased sedimentation and runoff in the water, requiring further treatment to maintain drinking water standards. This is the primary issue seen with increasing global temperatures, other effects can be seen in the figure below (Source: USGCRP 2009). Increased frequency and duration of drought has already been seen across the continental US in recent years, most notably affecting irrigation of croplands and water available for livestock. This has increased the need for municipalities and corporations alike to begin considering new water source identification and re-use options in their water use plans. In order to maintain productivity and quality of life across the United States, we have to start thinking outside the box as to where we obtain our water from.

AdEdge Water Technologies has treatment options available for a variety of contaminants. This allows for the identification and use of both groundwater and surface water sources that have been historically unavailable due to the presence of contaminants harmful to human health. In addition, AdEdge is also working on water re-use applications with industrial waste-water and elsewhere to provide recovery options and cost savings for the ever increasing demand of water across the country.

World Water Day Series #2 - Nuisance Contaminants? Iron and Manganese in Your Water

By Chad Miller, Project Manager

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

Groundwater throughout the world is plagued with high levels of naturally occurring metals.  Most often we find iron and manganese present in groundwater.  While these elements have little health risk, they are not easily overlooked by residents in the community with iron and manganese attributing to orange and black stains in toilets, sinks, and all water appliances of the home.  You also have most communities with industries, which uses equipment in contact with water that builds up with iron and manganese scale resulting in a loss of productivity.

   

Everyday people can see the trouble of iron and manganese if they, but they do not see these same problems occurring on a much larger scale in community water lines and pumps.   Just recently a utility director explained to me that an 8-inch water main is reduced to 2-inches in diameter due to scale build-up.  He combats this by adding sequestering chemicals and flushing his hydrants monthly to blow out the scale.  Who wants to have their streets flooded by the city when there is a water shortage?  If nothing else it’s bad PR. 

Filtering the iron and manganese prevents iron and manganese from building up scale in the water lines -- this is nothing new.  But, with the advent of H2Zero Backwash Recycle System – AdEdge does not generate a wastewater stream in the filtration process.  And you can forget about the requesting chemicals that are known to proliferate algae growth in lakes and streams.   It’s a win – win! 

World Water Day Series #1 - New Water Contaminations on the Rise

By Khushbu Karan, Applications Engineer

Welcome to our blog series in honor of World Water Day on Friday, March 22^nd! The United Nations declared 2013 as the “International Year of Water Cooperation.” The employees at AdEdge have a passion for clean water and providing safe drinking water for people throughout the world. Over the next week and half, we will be exploring some of the ways AdEdge is making a difference in helping the global water crisis.

Water is found naturally on earth in the form of river, lakes, aquifers, ponds etc. and we pay to keep our drinking water safe and clean; therefore, it is essential that controlled measures are continuously taken by individuals in both private and public sectors to improve and maintain drinking water quality. According to 2013 UN Pre-Report, world manufacturing output, especially in developing countries like India and China, have grown tremendously over the last few decades. Although economic growth has seen a slight drop in manufacturing growth globally, is that enough to conclude that this has successfully subsided effects of water pollution?

Water pollution is threatening many developing countries due to industrialization and majority of their water contaminants come from industries like pharmaceutical, chemicals, heavy metals, farming, paper mills, food, breweries and mining. A group of graduate students at Georgia State University presented to AdEdge last week that pollution from these industries is creating a majority of the water contamination in developing countries. Most of these industries dispose their wastes in land or water bodies that contaminate both surface and ground water.  Contaminants in the dissolved and not dissolved waste form are sometimes hard to treat. Water sources when left untreated can lead to life threatening diseases such as cancer, typhoid, jaundice, respiratory illness, physical disability and many others. 

We at AdEdge offer a variety of water treatment solutions for most of these industries. Many industries are now switching from traditional treatment systems to integrated treatment technologies due to stricter EPA regulations for contaminants such as arsenic, selenium, mercury, cobalt among others. AdEdge offers these products and has sold more than 500 water treatment systems in U.S and throughout the world.  We prove to continually grow in this business for the betterment of society and humanity.

TROUBLED WATERS

By James Billy Hill

Troubled Waters is a documentary revealing one of the world’s worst cases of mass poisoning, a town struggling to stay alive and a group of people fighting to keep them alive.

Watch the trailer

http://troubledwatersfilm.com/troubled-waters-trailer/

Knowing how to design, build, install & start-up water treatment systems for multiple contaminants is a core competence of AdEdge Water Technologies.

Over the last decade we have installed over 500 municipal water treatment projects, a number that is matched or exceeded by only a handful of companies worldwide. We have collaborated with hundreds of engineering firms to design treatment solutions, not only in the U.S. but around the world. Never have we heard the words from an engineering firm that our design package was inferior to a competitor.

During this time we have introduced or advanced at least nine innovative treatment technologies for the removal of arsenic, iron, manganese, sulfide and uranium. We have successfully utilized five different treatment technologies for arsenic removal alone, more than any other water treatment company worldwide.

The following three benefits ensure we not only provide our customers with a customized cost-effective water treatment system but also maintain our focus on minimizing wayward project costs.

1.      Our design process of preparing an estimated thorough proposal for our customers is typically within 95% of final costs. This enables our customers at an early stage to have a more accurate assessment of project costs which assists them throughout their project financing endeavors.

2.      Our Project Managers have access to our proposal designers and manufacturing personnel under the same roof, enabling them to effectively manage the process of timely submittals and project schedules. This guarantees our customers will have a supplier dedicated to the shortest project timeline.

3.      By manufacturing in-house we provide our customers a distinct cost advantage as we are able to; make certain systems are built to our customer’s requirements, control the project timeline and test thoroughly prior to shipping.

The following quotes are from existing customers,

“Since the installation of our system, the water is PERFECT. It actually sparkles!!! No more smell, no yellow spots on the white clothes.” Diane Eaton. Clarendon Water Company  

“It was a very well organized project. Your project management, direction and support were flawless. The technical support guys provided for start-up were very professional, a lot of fun and we were blessed to have them.” Craig Stark-MacBride Estates

We are proud of our record of achievement and our Passion for Clean Water. Let us share with you our capabilities that hundreds of customers around the world have already experienced.

Getting Technical

Just as our representative network strives to go the extra mile to serve our customers, our tech service team does the same out in the field.

Technical service and support are our highest priorities, and we will respond 24/7 to any service issues to ensure complete customer satisfaction. We also offer service contracts, for added customer support.

“We have more than 500 systems out in the field, some approaching 10 years old, that need service whether it be a media change out or a tune up,” said Paul Matz, senior project engineer.

Whether starting up a system or fixing an issue on a system that is up and running, our technicians recognize the importance of not resting until the customer is satisfied. Ensuring customer satisfaction also allows the technicians to prevent issues from returning.

“It takes months to get a customer and seconds to lose them,” says Tom Hebert, an AdEdge tech service field technician. Hebert’s job description includes performing startups, field services and field-related quality control.

But Hebert understands that his job goes beyond the technical service he can provide. Field service technicians represent AdEdge at project sites and serve as the customer’s resource for information and solutions to their technical problems.

“[Tech service] is the face of AdEdge and may be the only face a customer sees and can relate to,” he says.

Our technicians come equipped with the skills and knowledge to solve any problem. With the range of customers and sites that we serve, our technicians’ years of experience allow them to adapt their skills toward each unique situation and not quit until the issue is resolved.

“The are several separate entities involved in a municipal water treatment project,” says Hebert, “and AdEdge takes the initiative to be ultimately responsible to strive for 100 percent customer satisfaction.”

Decontaminating the San Antonio MDWCA

AdEdge’s treatment technology has been installed in a number of unique applications and locations. In February 2012, AdEdge was contacted to help remove arsenic and manganese from the drinking water supply of a rural community in New Mexico.

The San Antonio Mutual Domestic Water Consumers Association (MDWCA) is one of approximately 200 such organizations around the state of New Mexico. Elevated arsenic and manganese levels in this system, which serves 855 residents and handles 80,000 gallons per day, led operators to contact AdEdge for a treatment solution. Before AdEdge stepped in, the MDWCA was experiencing an arsenic level of 0.014 mg/L and a manganese level of 1.10 mg/L—well above the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels of 0.010 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L, respectively.

New Mexico is no stranger to water quality concerns. The Sanitary Projects Act was passed in the state in 1947 as a response to a public health crisis. Dangerous water practices were occurring, primarily in rural areas, with citizens obtaining drinking water from sources that were often unsanitary, such as ditches and shallow wells.

In an effort to deliver safe drinking water to these communities, the Sanitary Projects Act authorized and encouraged the creation of MDWCAs, which have the authority to construct and operate water facilities around the state.

At the San Antonio facility, AdEdge installed a 150 gallons-per-minute APU26 skid-mounted system consisting of three, 42-in. diameter vessels with a multiple media filter. The treatment system includes chlorine and ferric chloride chemical feed modules, with ADGS+ coagulation/filtration media with an anthracite cap to remove the contaminants. The media is all ANSI/NSF 61-certified by the Water Quality Association. AdEdge’s H2Zero Backwash Recycle system then treats and manages the contaminated backwash water.

The San Antonio system was started up in June 2012 and has successfully reduced the arsenic and manganese levels well below the EPA’s maximum contaminant levels.

Contact AdEdge and let us design a customized treatment solution to keep your community’s drinking water supply safe and clean.

One Step Beyond

 At AdEdge, we strive to go the extra mile in all aspects of our business. From the products we manufacture to the services we offer, we make sure we’re able to offer the highest quality to our customers and vendors.

Our wide network of sales representatives spans the United States and Canada, and reaches as far as Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Serbia. The knowledge and decades of experience shared by our water treatment experts give every customer the confidence of knowing they are being taken care of by a qualified representative.

Communication is vital to both the representative’s success and our success as a company. And that helps us all better serve you and meet your needs.

We are constantly training our reps on our new products and procedures, because keeping them informed is the best way to keep you informed. Our training sessions bring sales reps from all over the world to our corporate home in Georgia, where they meet our staff, tour our facilities, and get up close and personal with the products you use to solve your water needs. We’ll also be launching a webinar series for our representatives—and customers—later this year, so even from a distance they can continue educating themselves on the products and services we offer.

Let us go one step beyond what other water treatment companies provide. Check out our list of representatives to find one in your area.

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