Reinforcing its commitment to serve as a full-line eco-friendly water reuse, wastewater, and biological odor control solutions provider, Bord na Móna Environmental Products U.S. Inc. today introduced a range of rainwater harvesting products to complement it’s range of wastewater reuse/recycling technologies at the WEFTEC ’09 Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida. The American market subsidiary of the $550-million Bord na Móna group based in Dublin, Ireland, is exhibiting its full line of treatment solutions at Booth #2319.
According to Shane Keaney, President of Bord na Mona Environmental Products U.S. Inc., the new RainSava® line of residential & commercial rainwater harvesting products include packaged solutions available directly to green build developers, self-builders and to homeowners retrofitting rainwater recycling into their houses. It also includes skid-mounted units and recycling components to builders & owners of commercial properties, such as schools, universities, office buildings and for industrial water reuse applications.
Bord na Mona today also introduced water mining and decentralized membrane bioreactor packaged solutions at WEFTEC ’09. In doing so, the company is moving towards being able to offer a complete range of residential & decentralized water reuse solutions and leverage its experience in offering water recycling products in European markets.
The flat plate membrane technology has been designed to reduce the operation & maintenance requirements compared to other membrane systems while providing a water quality suitable for non-potable reuse applications such as toilet flushing, and irrigation. “The PuraM® and our residential PuraMc® Compact Membrane Bioreactor systems achieve high quality effluent that meets water reuse and stringent Total Nitrogen standards within a greatly reduced overall footprint,” Keaney explained.
The membrane bioreactor uses ultra-filtration membranes to remove solids and pathogens from the wastewater, without the need for chlorination or Uv while the biological process removes constituents such as BOD, nitrogen and phosphorus. The advanced treatment is provided by the extremely small pore-size of the membrane, smaller than any bacteria, creating the physical barrier that ensures the high water quality standard.
Membranes for Decentralized Applications:
According to Keaney, there has been a historic concern about the robustness, cost and operational effectiveness of residential and decentralized wastewater systems, creating the need for treatment solutions that deliver reduced complexity, have a small footprint and are easily constructed within buildings to minimize aesthetics and odor concerns when located within existing neighborhoods. There is also a responsibility on regulators to ensure clarity in regulatory water reuse standards while providing affordability for the customer.
The challenges for designers and manufacturers of decentralized membrane systems include reducing the complexity of the plant by eliminating the need for permeate pumps, chemical dosing and back pulse pumps & valves; reducing the frequency of recovery cleans; improving health & safety through removing the need for onsite chemicals; consideration of phasing of flows and periods of no flow; and having pre-engineered solutions that match the required flow rate
Flat plate systems exhibit many of these characteristics and a new generation of membranes designed specifically for the decentralized market are now available that improve air scouring efficiency eliminating the need for chemical dosing and back pulsing equipment and allowing periods between recovery cleans in excess of 12 months. As the greatest portion of operating costs for decentralized systems is often associated with the provision of manpower, unattended operation through simplicity in design, and introduction of remote monitoring technology will be critical to making these systems affordable.
“A new generation of innovative technologies are being developed to meet these demands,” Keaney asserted, “with membrane treatment leading the way where water reuse or high nitrogen performance standards are specified. Bord na Mona offers its PuraM® and PuraMc® solutions to meet this growing need.”
Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Bord na Móna is a multi-national $550-million full line provider of products and services in the environmental, energy, fuels, and horticulture markets. The company’s state-of-the-
