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.