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A warm welcome to our fourth Newsletter.
A Letter from Doug Kelley, President of IER
“As we move from Spring into Summer we are all feeling extremely rejuvenated by the dramatic decline in COVID-19 cases in the States, allowing us to get outdoors to enjoy the warming weather and outdoor fun. IER is also experiencing rejuvenation after passing through the most difficult Winter season imaginable, being able to make a full conversion and upgrade to our Magnesium Hydroxide product line while having to navigate through the pandemic and the Texas power outage!
We couldn’t have done it without our dedicated team of delivery specialists, men who take great pride in meeting or exceeding our customers delivery needs. In this newsletter you’ll get the chance to meet one of our longest employed delivery specialist, who not only takes great care of our customers, but is a tremendous resource of ideas and service in and around our manufacturing facility.
We are also highlighting in this newsletter a lesser-known benefit of Magnesium Hydroxide, that being its coagulation properties which can provide a dramatic benefit in the dewatering of wastewater sludge. In this newsletter, an article describing the chemistry behind flocculation and sludge compaction, and an actual case study that documents the reduction in sludge hauling fees when replacing NaOH with Mg(OH)2, will be useful reading for those experiencing sludge treatment challenges. Perhaps a change to a safer alkaline additive can also have a significant impact on the overall cost performance of your system!
Finally, we have decided to include in this newsletter a simple and scientifically sound method that we developed for testing the comparative dosing rates for different alkaline chemicals. We call it the Vinegar Test, named accordingly, as you’ll see, for obvious reasons.
It sure feels like we’re nearing the end of the COVID tunnel, and the light is looking brighter and more like normal. Never thought we’d all be so desperate for . . . normal!!
Wishing everyone the very happiest and safest Summer – you deserve it!”
HIGHLIGHTS
- Another customer success story: Converting from caustic to magnesium hydroxide in a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR system)
- Unpacking Sludge Compaction!
- Technical talk: “AMALGAM Mg(OH)2: alternative to caustic soda for wastewater treatment – with Birch Bay Water & Sewer”
- Introducing Patrick Helman, Pasco Plant Truck Driver
Customer Story
Converting from caustic to magnesium hydroxide
in a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system
Spokane County Regional Water Reclamation Facility, operated by Jacobs, processes 8 million gallons per day (mgd) of wastewater collected from both incorporated and unincorporated areas around the Spokane Valley. IER proposed AMALGAM-60 (60% Mg(OH)2) as the alternative to caustic soda for cost, safety, and performance benefits.
Read moreWastewater chemistry 101
Unpacking Sludge Compaction
Trying to determine how to improve wastewater sludge dewatering and compaction can be a very complicated process. The root cause of the problem can be anything from an undesirable biological process to a chemical imbalance.
Read moreTechnical talk
Alternative to caustic soda, with Birch Bay Water & Sewer
This talk discusses the concept of using AMALGAM 60, a safe and cost-effective alternative to the use of sodium hydroxide [caustic soda, NaOH], for wastewater alkalinity and pH adjustment.
Watch the presentationOur people
Introducing Patrick Helman, Pasco Plant Truck Driver
In November 2016, Patrick joined IER and has been providing dedicated delivery services to IER customers ever since. Patrick drives from our Pasco plant to customer sites and has been an important part of IER’s growth in the Pacific Northwest region over the last few years.
Read Patrick's bio