IER News Issue 5
October 2021

A warm welcome to our fifth Newsletter.

A Letter from Doug Kelley, President of IER

“So, just a few months ago we thought we had COVID in the rear-view mirror, but along comes the Delta variant, and the battle goes on. Massive forest fires in the West and record-setting floods in the East. As this is likely our new normal, we’ll need everyone globally to pull together around the foundations of science to address these challenges.

My thoughts and prayers are particularly focused on those in communities most ravaged by the increasing power of nature.

In the midst of this battle, IER has added some troops! Joshua Howard and Scott Langner have joined IER’s team of regional experts, bringing their knowledge in wastewater operations and technical problem solving to serve IER’s customers. With Joshua in Houston and Scott in Sioux Falls, IER has dramatically expanded our resources to support our Midwestern customer base. Welcome to the team, Joshua and Scott!

As we expand our sales and service team, we know that we can always rely on tremendous support from the home front – our Administrative Team! In this newsletter you’ll be introduced to our long-standing Customer Service Manager, who cares deeply about each customer’s needs and strives to orchestrate the very best logistical solution even under emergency situations. In the world of wastewater treatment, especially for our industrial customers, there are times when the bacteria in the plant are behaving dramatically differently today than they were yesterday. This could be due to a seasonal upset, or perhaps someone up in the plant dumped a chemical down the drain that they shouldn’t have. It takes an extremely committed and capable administrative person to juggle all the internal and external resources in order to meet the fluctuating needs of our growing customer base.

We are also highlighting in this newsletter the tremendous benefits of IER’s Magnesium Hydroxide products for controlling odor and corrosion in sewer lines. We refer to this application as “killing two birds with one stone”, meaning that by feeding AMALGAM-60 (60% Mg(OH)_₂) into a lift station for collection system odor and corrosion control, the increased pH and alkalinity entering the treatment plant greatly minimizes or eliminates the need for added alkalinity in order to maintain effective nitrification. We hope you enjoy reading this technical story!

While the COVID battle continues, we encourage all to follow the guidance of science and to be as thoughtful as possible toward the health and safety of all those we encounter. This philosophy is identical to IER’s philosophy of providing sound scientific solutions while supporting our customer’s applications with world-class technical service. These times are still far from “normal”, but we can best reach a successful new normal by pulling together around the foundations of science.”