California On The Move With Membrane Technology For Water And Wastewater Treatment
Largest membrane bioreactor on West Coast to use ZENON technology and North America's largest operating membrane drinking water plant expanding with order for ZeeWeed® membranes for total of $13 million in contracts to ZENON
OAKVILLE, Ontario - The City of Redlands, California, has affirmed its commitment to water reclamation and environmental sustainability with the purchase of the ZeeWeed® MBR from ZENON (TSX: ZEN and ZEN.A), a leader in innovative membrane technologies.
California is one of the states in the U.S.A. that has been experiencing growing water shortages. The City of Redlands has taken the lead in optimizing the use of its limited drinking water supply by reusing wastewater for non-potable purposes. According to Douglas Headrick, Chief of Water Resources for the City, the efficient use of recycled water will free up 2 billion gallons of limited water resources available for drinking water use.
The recycled water produced using ZENON's ZeeWeed® MBR will be sold to industrial, commercial, and agricultural customers. "With the implementation of membrane technology, we now view our treated wastewater as a valuable asset instead of a liability," continued Mr. Headrick.
"We are very excited about this project. We are essentially taking a 30-year old wastewater treatment plant and turning it into a state-of-the-art facility, producing tertiary quality effluent. Once on line, in June of next year, this will be the largest installation of its kind on the West Coast."
According to Mr. Headrick, the choice to go to membranes was an easy one. The State of California has very strict discharge requirements and ZENON's ZeeWeed® membranes are certified to fully satisfy Title 22 regulations. In addition, the local power generation plant, one of the utility's largest recycled water customers, has its own stringent water requirements. The use of the ZeeWeed® MBR by the City will eliminate the need for additional treatment of the recycled water at the power plant prior to using it for cooling tower purposes in the generation of electricity.
Water reuse is fast becoming an attractive alternative for municipalities faced with budgetary cutbacks, decreasing resources and increasing demand. The sale of the recycled water will help the City of Redlands maintain economical wastewater rates for its customers. "This new plant will be very cost effective for us," continued Mr. Headrick. "It's a win-win situation for all parties concerned."
On the drinking water side, ZENON's existing installation already the largest operating membrane plant in North America is set to increase capacity. The Olivenhain Municipal Water District will be expanding to produce 34 million gallons of water per day.
"One of the many compelling reasons we selected the ZENON membrane system was the ease with which it can be expanded incrementally as we have the need for additional water treatment capacity," said Kimberly A. Thorner, Esq. Assistant General Manager of the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. "In June we awarded the contract to ZENON to expand our plant by another 9 million gallons per day to a total of 34 million gallons per day and we anticipate the plant being online by the end of this calendar year. Fast and easy!"
According to Andrew Benedek, Chairman and CEO of ZENON, California has been a leader in the use of membranes for water treatment in North America. "Its stringent water quality requirements ensure a growing market for membranes," he said, "and we will continue to increase our market share in the area with our ZeeWeed® technology."
ZENON is a world leader in providing advanced membrane products and services for water purification, wastewater treatment and water reuse to municipalities and industries worldwide. With hundreds of installations in over 30 countries, ZeeWeed® is Everywhere!
The 2003 recipient of the prestigious Stockholm Industry Water Award, ZENON was selected because of the company's innovative approaches to the development of water and wastewater process technologies, contributions to environmental improvement through improved performance in production processes, and new products that help to improve the world water situation.
Chosen as Canada's Top Exporter of the year, ZENON has also been selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for the third consecutive year.
The ZENON group of companies employs nearly 1,000 people who operate from locations in North America, Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
A S&P/TSX Composite company, ZENON Environmental Inc. trades under the symbols ZEN and ZEN.A.