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.