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A Letter from Doug Kelley, President of IER
Hi everyone! It’s already been half a year since our last newsletter – must be having tremendous fun (and I am!), because time is flying! Things are heating up here in the Pacific Northwest. Here in Central Washington, this July we are expected to have 15-16 days in a row with temps at or above 100oF. Crazy!! We all need to keep doing what we can to think and act sustainably; to minimize our dependence on fossil fuels for everything from gasoline to single-use plastics. To this end, we’re proud to announce IER has decided to provide our sales and operations fleet with plug-in hybrid vehicles, improving our carbon footprint by doubling (or better!) our gas mileage.
How can we be more sustainable?
Cutting our greenhouse gas emissions is one way to help our planet. Another way is to help water resource recovery facilities discharge cleaner water back into the environment. In this newsletter we are reporting on an exciting discovery of how the pH increase and strong buffering ability of ALKA-Mag+ results in the enhancement of phosphorous removal! Simply by replacing caustic soda with the safer and less expensive ALKA-Mag+, our customers are saving on monthly chemical costs, and now can avoid the need for an expensive tertiary treatment process to polish phosphorous from their final effluent!
Click to read more about this customer’s story.
Want to learn more?
In support of this discovery, we have drafted an article describing some of the secondary benefits that IER customers are enjoying after transitioning to the use of ALKA-Mag+: enhanced biological phosphorous removal, membrane flow rate efficiency, and improved sludge dewatering.
Team Updates
Lastly, we always like to highlight one of IER’s great employees. In this case, we are providing a farewell video of one of our longest-standing and most knowledgeable employees, John Strong. John retired from IER in June and is now busy enjoying numerous home and classic automobile projects. The best part is that he no longer has any urgent deadlines on any projects! We wish him a very long and happy retirement!
Enjoy the newsletter!
HIGHLIGHTS
Article: Benefits Beyond pH and Alkalinity
Customer story: Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal Using ALKA-Mag+
Video: John Strong retirement
Article
Benefits Beyond pH and Alkalinity
The use of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) for pH & alkalinity control in wastewater has been well documented over the years, with obvious benefits.
But the benefits from feeding magnesium hydroxide do not stop there. It has been commonly observed that magnesium hydroxide provides secondary benefits to the wastewater treatment process. In this article we will explore the secondary benefits of Enhanced Phosphorus Removal, Biofilm Reduction, and Improved Solids Handling.
Customer story
Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal Using ALKA-Mag+
Due to the highly unstable nature of a low alkalinity water system, extreme care needs to be taken to protect the health of plants and fish, such as salmon and other native species. For this reason, the state Department of Ecology recently modified the NPDES permit for Buckley to require that the minimum allowable discharge pH be increased from 6.0 to 6.91 – much closer to a neutral pH environment..
Our people
John Strong retirement
Come join IER as we pay tribute to John Strong who after nearly 20 years is retiring. John Strong has been with IER from nearly the beginning to now. Every step of IER’s growth over the last 20 years has John’s touches on it. All of us at IER thank John for what he has brought and wish him the best in his retirement.
Watch the videoLATEST NEWS
June 09, 2021
Magnesium Hydroxide’s Role in Sludge Compaction
Trying to determine how to improve wastewater sludge dewatering and compaction can be a very complicated process. The root cause
July 24, 2024
IER News Issue 13 – August 2024
A Letter from Doug Kelley, President of IER Hi everyone! It’s already been half a year since our last newsletter
July 24, 2024
Benefits Beyond pH and Alkalinity
The use of magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) for pH & alkalinity control in wastewater has been well documented over the years,