Small Town, Big Contamination

The village of Dewitt is located in the heart of Illinois, more than 150 miles from Chicago. Although the town has a population of only 200 residents, a number of contaminants had taken up residence in its water supply.

In 2011, Urbana, Ill.-based consulting firm Berns, Clancy and Associates contacted AdEdge to help clean up the community’s water supply. The filter system was not meeting regulatory requirements,with its elevated levels of arsenic, iron and manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. In addition to these contaminants, the water also had high levels of phosphate, ammonia and total organic carbon.

Using a 50-gallon-per-minute treatment system composed of four 24-inch carbon steel vessels arranged in a parallel configuration, AdEdge tackled the contamination. The vessels were loaded with AdEdge’s AD26 oxidation/filtration media for the removal of arsenic, iron and manganese, and hydrogen sulfide. AD26 media is a NSF 61-certified, manganese dioxide-based filter media. The high filtration rate of the AD26 media allows for the removal of the contaminants while maintaining the existing building’s small footprint.

The AD26 media in the presence of a strong oxidant, which is injected into the raw water, acts as a catalyst for the accelerated removal of the contaminants. The programmable logic controller (PLC) initiates an automatic backwash of the treatment vessels to remove any precipitated solids that may accumulate in the media bed and to extend the life of the AD26 media.

Backwashing occurs one vessel at a time to ensure water is continuously being treated throughout the day. The system fully integrates with the existing post-chlorination system that addresses the high ammonia levels in the water before going to distribution.

The system was successfully commissioned in July 2013. Today, it treats more than 30,000 gallons of water each day, reducing each contaminant to non-detectable levels.

AdEdge’s packaged treatment systems are the ideal contamination solution for small community drinking water systems. Contact AdEdge and let us create a cleaner, safer water supply for your customers. 

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 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.

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.

Effective Arsenic Removal

When AdEdge first came onto the scene in 2002, our initial goal was to be the go-to company for arsenic removal for small water systems. While we have certainly broadened our water treatment capabilities in the last 10 years, our arsenic treatment remains top notch. In fact, we’ve been awarded 12 arsenic removal demonstration projects from the EPA.

Arsenic’s dangers are masked by its colorless, odorless appearance. It is a carcinogen that occurs naturally in groundwater and is known for leading to dangerous health conditions such as cancer and heart failure.

There are several options for treating arsenic in drinking water, including reverse osmosis, coagulation/filtration and oxidation/filtration using our AD26 or ADGS+ media, which are especially effective when arsenic occurs with other common contaminants, such as iron or manganese. ADGS+ was instrumental in our treatment of a severe arsenic contamination in Argentina.

A simple, low-cost option for dealing with an arsenic-only contamination in a small water system is AdEdge’s Bayoxide E33 media.

The iron-based, NSF 61-certified adsorption media removes up to 99% of the total arsenic in water—including arsenic (III) and arsenic (V)—and can be easily discarded as non-hazardous household waste. Bayoxide E33 is up to 2.5 times lighter than other iron-based media and can be easily adapted to work with water softeners or other equipment.

The EPA estimates that more than 800 communities across the country are not in compliance with its maximum contaminant level of 10 ppb of arsenic. Don’t let your water system be part of this alarming statistic. Contact AdEdge to ensure the purity of your water supply is protected for the health and safety of those who drink it.

Changing Lives Through Clean Water

At AdEdge, we’re proud to call the state of Georgia home, but we don’t hesitate to offer our services to those outside the United States. When we heard about a South American town in dire need of help, we stepped in to assist the 6,000 residents who were being poisoned by their own drinking water.

The untreated water supply in San Antonio de Los Cobres—a remote village deep in the Andes Mountains in Salta, Argentina—had a dangerously high level of arsenic.

Arsenic levels in the tiny village reached up to 290 ppb. To put that in perspective, the World Health Organization’s maximum contaminant level for arsenic is 10 ppb.

Those high levels had heartbreaking effects on the community. The list of health effects stemming from arsenic poisoning included skin, bladder, kidney and lung cancer, as well as diseases of the blood vessels of the legs and feet. Residents also had significantly higher rates of heart failure and numerous other health concerns.

The odorless, tasteless contamination was more than just an inconvenience. It was an epidemic. Life expectancy was so short that younger generations were growing up without ever meeting their grandparents.

In fact, the situation was so bad that it was considered one of the worst cases of arsenic poisoning in South America. That’s when AdEdge stepped in.

Our employee-led non-profit organization Helping Hands For Water sprung into action, partnering with international community service organization His Heart Missions, Aguas del Norte—the water utility that operates the area’s water treatment plant—and the local municipality, to bring life-saving change to the community.

AdEdge implemented a two-step process using our ADGS+ media and granular ferric oxide (GFO) adsorption media. We integrated the community’s existing sodium hypochlorite chemical feed module with the new system, making the town’s only source of drinking water safe for the first time in decades.

AdEdge engineers traveled to the Argentinean town to start up the system—the first of its kind in Argentina—in November 2011. They were accompanied by a documentary crew, and Director Jim Hill and his team captured the process involved in providing safe, clean drinking water to the village in their documentary Troubled Waters, which has recently been shown at film festivals across the country.

Around 9 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2011, the first arsenic-free water was delivered to the town that was once plagued with poisoned drinking water. Since then, tests have shown that the system has significantly reduced the supply’s arsenic levels to less than 5 ppb. Now parents can give their children a glass of water knowing that it won’t make them sick later on.

We’re proud that our system drastically reduced arsenic levels in the town’s drinking water. But most importantly, it significantly improved the quality of life for the nearly 6,000 residents of San Antonio de Los Cobres.

AdEdge and His Heart Missions received an official declaration of thanks from the superintendent of San Antonio de Los Cobres, as a token of gratitude for protecting the community from a lifetime of poisoned drinking water.

As it gets closer to the holiday season, we want to show our thanks for the blessings in our own lives by giving back and improving the quality of life of those around us.

AdEdge Water Technologies Delivers Arsenic Treatment System to Chilean Community.

by Joseph Naylor

AdEdge recently shipped an arsenic treatment system to the Arica – Pago de Gomez Water Treatment Plant in Chile, to reduce arsenic levels of 18 ppb in the water source, to below the arsenic MCL set by the World Health Organization of 10 ppb.  

The AdEdge system design features three skid mounted treatment units capable of treating up to 1760 gpm (587 gpm per skid). The AdEdge system will remove the arsenic from the groundwater supply using a proven oxidation/filtration process. A central component of the system is the AdEdge ADGS-Plus media which is NSF 61 certified for drinking water.  Commissioning and startup of the system is scheduled for early June, 2012.

AdEdge Water Technologies, LLC (www.adedgetechnologies.com) specializes in the design, development, manufacturing and supply of innovative water treatment systems that remove contaminants from process or aqueous streams. AdEdge offers a full range of conventional and innovative treatment technologies including adsorption, metals precipitation, coagulation, filtration, clarification, ion exchange, advanced oxidation, and membrane based solutions.

Innovative Design Engineering Combined with Effective Treatment Technologies Solve Today’s Arsenic Removal Challenges.

By Greg Gilles, Vice President and Principal, AdEdge Water Technologies, LLC

Many public water systems in Nevada and throughout the U.S are impacted by the USEPA’s MCL for arsenic.  Over the past 10 years since, the promulgation of this revised arsenic standard, many affected public water systems have deployed a variety of technologies for arsenic removal. The primary technologies for arsenic that have emerged, which are in most common use today, are adsorption, oxidation/filtration, and coagulation & filtration.  Recently, AdEdge Water Technologies completed one of the largest arsenic removal projects of its kind for Spring Creek Utilities, in Spring Creek, NV. The project used coagulation & filtration coupled with an innovative backwash water recycle system to achieve applicable NDEP drinking water standards with zero discharge.  This unique, fast track, high profile project features involved a variety of design considerations, piloting, full scale equipment selection, and integration into AdEdge WaterPOD™ (containerized system) enclosures,  chemical feed requirements,  and residuals handling.   The project was implemented in less than 6 months from start to finish treating three individual well sites with flows of 435 gpm, 725 gpm, and 790 gpm respectively.  

The system features AdEdge AD26 coagulation/filtration technology built into three WaterPOD™ systems. Each system consists of separate, completely packaged, pre-piped, instrumented, and automation, housed inside of 40-feet long x 8-feet customized modular buildings, with combined design flows of approximately 1950 GPM.

AdEdge WaterPOD™ systems combine performance with economy, resulting in an ideal solution for sites where space, cost, and installation schedules are critical. The project also features an AdEdge H2Zero™ backwash recycle system. Included is a vertical backwash holding tank with adequate capacity for temporary storage of the backwash water, controls, flow meter, and pump skid with a control panel. Backwash water is collected, separated and re-processed through the treatment system reclaiming up to 95% of the backwash water with no surface discharge.  In addition, AdEdge AD-IN™ CO2 gas injection modules for pH control to enhance and optimize the arsenic treatment process.

This project truly represents the effectiveness of good design engineering and innovative treatment technologies to solve today’s arsenic removal challenges. For more information contact AdEdge Water Technologies, LLC. 1-866-823-3343  info@adedgetechnologies.com   www.adedgetechnologies.com

Dr.Oz! You should be talking about Arsenic in Drinking Water. Doctors do recommend drinking 8 full glasses of water a day.

By Antonio Inojal

Application Engineer, AdEdge Water Technologies, LLC

NBC’s Medical Expert, Dr. Oz, announced that he and his staff did an extensive study on the leading brands of apple juice, and the results were staggering. According to the study, some countries which manufacture apple juice use a pesticide that contains arsenic, a metal that can cause cancer.

Concern about arsenic in apple juice? I think this is a good faith effort (by Dr. Oz) to raise awareness about something that will have INSIGNIFICANT consequences (levels of arsenic in apple juice) in the long run. You can already read comments about moms distrusting trusted brand names such as Gerber over this issue. The EPA’s MCL for arsenic in drinking water is based on the capacity of the metal (due to its toxicity) to result in 1 death over a million inhabitants caused by the daily consumption of 2 liters of water for 70 years (taking the average person being 70 Kg). Keep in mind that a baby drinks liquid in proportion to his/her own body weight. Unless you completely substitute apple juice for water in your daily diet, I personally don’t think anyone consumes 2 liters of apple juice every day. The FDA has already sent their own letter to Dr. Oz where they claim that their own tests of the same batches of apple juice revealed much lower inorganic arsenic content than those tested by the lab contracted by Dr. Oz.

Arsenic in drinking water on the other hand is a much more prominent issue here in the U.S. and around the World.  There are water systems in the U.S., including our Native American Nations in the western U.S. , that deliver water that exceeds the EPA MCL of 10/ ppb.   Awareness of the effects of excessive   arsenic in drinking water among consumers is increasing across the country. Companies such as ours, AdEdge Water Technologies provides highly effective treatment solutions to both municipal and residential customers for excessive  arsenic levels in drinking water.  


Perhaps an appropriate follow-up story from Dr. Oz would be to address the more common issue of arsenic in drinking water that consumers' in some areas of the country face.  

New AdEdge Video features Customer Testimonial About AdEdge AD26 Arsenic Removal Treatment System in Anthony, NM

AdEdge Technologies released a new video that features testimony from Pete Gomez, Water Operator for Desert Sands MDWCA, Anthony, NM. AdEdge installed a 450gpm AD26 Packaged Water Treatment system to remove arsenic, iron & manganese. http://www.adedgetechnologies.com/

Residential Water Treatment Systems

Quoted from http://www.adedgetech.com/residential_treatment_systems.html:

Residential Water Treatment Systems

Residential Water Systems Provide Treatment for Cancer Causing Arsenic in Water.

AdVantEdge™ Medallion Series POE systems are ideal for whole-house arsenic treatment. No chemicals, no regeneration, low maintenance worry free arsenic removal for the entire household. It's the most economical and effective whole-house treatment available. The adsorption process using AD33 granular ferric oxide provides the best arsenic removal performance of any available technology and is considered the standard in the industry. Medallion Series systems also effectively remove a number of other contaminants, including lead.

AdVantEdge™ High Capacity Series POU systems feature a multifunctional integrated system design ideal for under counter household residential use. Features a single-stage treatment approach using a selected 4.5 x 10-inch cartridge for arsenic removal. The system includes housing components i.e., sumps, caps, mounting bracket, faucet (lead-free), shut-off device, and tubing for a complete unit. Rated cartridge life is every 12 months or 3,000 gallons whichever comes first (for 50 ppb arsenic)

AdVantEdge™ Plus Series POU systems provide the ultimate in point-of-use protection. Incorporating AD33 technology, the Plus Series systems are the first carbon-block based products to achieve an NSF 53 certification for arsenic removal. Plus Series systems also have California certification. They remove a wide range of contaminants, including arsenic, lead, VOCs, pesticides, cryptosporidium, Guardia and chlorine.

AdVantEdge™Dual Series POU under-counter systems are the perfect solution for providing arsenic-free water for cooking and drinking. Complete pre assembled systems include cartridges, housing, bracket, automatic shutoff flow meter, connection tubing and attractive chrome faucet. Easy installation with rapid results. The Dual Series is also available for uranium removal applications.

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

Quoted from http://www.adedgetech.com/adsorption.html:

Adsorption Process

Water Treatment

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

In the adsorption process, contaminants in the aqueous stream break their bond with water molecules and chemically adhere to a filter media. In most systems this is accomplished by directing the water flow through pressure vessels containing the filter media at a rate that allows enough contact time for the adsorption to occur. Several medias have been developed to reduce a variety of contaminants such as arsenic and other heavy metals, fluoride, and dissolved organic chemicals like pesticides or petroleum products.

AdEdge Technologies’ Bayoxide®E33 adsorption media is the industry standard for arsenic reduction reducing up to 99% of total arsenic, including both arsenic (III) and arsenic (V). It is also effective in reducing other heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, antimony and molybdenum. This revolutionary iron-based granular adsorption media has 4 to 10 times the capacity of many adsorption medias. Adedge’s product is specifically designed for commercial and residential POE and small drinking water systems to meet the new EPA arsenic standard of 10 ppb. The Bayoxide ®E33 media is discardable when spent and requires no chemicals or regeneration. It has become the premier product of choice for commercial and drinking water treatment systems for reliable, cost-effective, proven reduction of arsenic.

AD74, is an AdEdge adsorption media for reducing fluoride, which may be found naturally in some groundwater, added by municipalities, or in some industrial process waste streams. This media can be regenerated or used as a disposable one in smaller applications. It also has the capability to reduce some arsenic and other heavy metals.

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

Quoted from http://www.adedgetech.com/oxidation_filtration.html:

Adedge Technologies, Water Treatment Systems

Oxidation Filtration

Oxidation/filtration refers to precipitative processes that are designed to remove naturally occurring iron, manganese, and sulfides from water. The processes involve the oxidation of the soluble forms of these contaminants to their insoluble forms and then removal by filtration of the precipitated particles.

Arsenic may be removed with the iron in some cases. Arsenic can be removed via two primary mechanisms: adsorption and co-precipitation. In groundwater containing both iron and arsenic, they are usually found in their reduced form. For optimum arsenic removal, a chemical oxidant such as sodium hypochlorite is often needed. Oxidized arsenic then adsorbs onto the iron hydroxide particles that are ultimately filtered out of solution. The arsenic removal efficiency is strongly dependent on the initial iron and arsenic concentrations.

The AdEdge Technologies oxidation/ filtration medias have high catalytic and oxidation activity, superior handling properties and stability, NSF 61 certification, require no permanganate or coagulation addition and low capital and operating costs compared to other alternatives due to the smaller system footprints. We have over 300 public water system installations and over 3,000 residential installations, more than any company in the U.S.

AdEdge Treatment System Solves Arsenic Issue for Indiana School

AdEdge was selected in 2007 by the U.S. EPA and the host site in the Round 2a Arsenic Demonstration Program to implement a turnkey arsenic treatment for the Clinton Christian School in Goshen, IN. The Clinton Christian School water system is served by one well with a design flow of 25 gpm. The well provides potable water for the school with a population of 130 students / staff members. The treatment system receives water on the well side of the storage tanks with an elevated iron level of 0.81 mg/L, high manganese of 0.10 mg/l and an arsenic level of 29 ppb, above the EPA MCL of 10 ppb. AdEdge was contracted by U.S. EPA to provide and manage all aspects of the project including permitting with IDEM, design, and fabrication, installation, and startup activities. The system was AdEdge’s 11th full scale EPA demonstration project.

AdEdge proposed and installed a hybrid style treatment system designed to reduce iron, manganese and arsenic concurrently to below primary and secondary MCLs. The system utilizes an AD26 Oxidation/Filtration pretreatment technology followed by granular ferric oxide adsorption deploying Bayoxide® E33 GFO media. The design also includes a backwash management system capable of removing residual chlorine from the periodic backwash water to comply with the site’s NPDES discharge permit. The packaged modular system features a triplex 13-inch diameter composite filtration package plumbed in a parallel flow prior to the dual 24-inch composite module containing AdEdge Bayoxide® E33 adsorption media. The system is placed after a pre-chlorination module for oxidation of iron and manganese, as well as arsenic (III) species. The modular treatment system is equipped with automatic controls, backwashing features, switches, gauges, flow meters, and sample ports for a complete functioning unit.

Since full time operation began in February, 2008, the system has effectively reduced iron, manganese, and arsenic well below primary and secondary MCLs. Over 95% of iron and manganese and 85% arsenic reduction is being accomplished with the AD26 pretreatment technology. Arsenic in the final treated water following adsorption has consistantly been < 2 ppb. Approximately 2,500 gallons per day is being processed through the system on average. The site’s operator performs the routine sample collection and reporting associated with the U.S. EPA’s Demonstration Program requirements with quarterly reporting of the data by EPA’s contractor Battelle. A EPA summary report is publically available on the EPA website.