ZENON Selected To Supply World's Largest Membrane Bioreactor
Company reports nearly $50 million for purchase orders and letters of intent received for wastewater projects in U.S.A. to treat over 40 million gallons of wastewater per day
Oakville, Ontario - Fulton County, Georgia will be the site of the largest membrane bioreactor (MBR) in the world. ZENON, (TSX: ZEN and ZEN.A; OTC: ZNEAF and ZNEAVF), the leader in MBR technology worldwide, has been selected to supply its MBR system that will treat 15 million gallons (mgd) of wastewater per day and provide high quality effluent for reuse applications. New Reuse Facilities are also being planned in Florida, Arizona, Washington, California and New Mexico.
ZENON's technology was recently selected for the new John's Creek Environmental Campus near Atlanta, which will house not only a water reuse plant, but will be a major educational centre for water reclamation in the State. ZENON expects to receive the purchase order later this summer with construction on the plant scheduled to begin in the fall. The entire complex is expected to be complete in 2007.
The new campus will be built in an existing residential area which, according to Tim Equels, Assistant Director of the Public Works Department for Fulton County, presents several challenges. "In addition to finding a proven and reliable technology, there are a number of other issues that we addressed, such as space, integration of the site into the community, noise and odor control. With ZENON's vast experience in membrane bioreactors, we were able to satisfy all these concerns. We are also fortunate to have Georgia's first ZENON MBR plant, the Cauley Creek Reclamation Facility, running successfully in our own backyard."
Operators at the Bonita Springs East Water Reclamation Facility in Florida were also looking for a reliable wastewater treatment process to produce a consistent quality effluent for reuse. After a thorough and rigorous analysis of the different technologies available, they chose the ZENON MBR, according to Pat Jennings, Director of Engineering for the Utility.
"You can end up spending a great deal of money trying to fix process failures and achieve the required effluent quality," said Mr. Jennings. "After seeing a number of ZENON MBR plants, we've come to realize that this is a utility manager's dream. It's a bullet-proof technology from an effluent quality standpoint – you just can't get bad water to come out."
ZENON has received a letter of intent for this project and expects to receive the purchase order shortly; completion of the project is scheduled for the end of 2006.
Demand for reuse quality water is also gaining momentum in water-short Arizona. The thriving community of Tempe, near Phoenix, is experiencing increasing commercial/industrial growth. In order to meet the growing wastewater needs of the area, the City decided to retrofit the existing conventional Kyrene Reclamation Facility, while increasing the capacity to 9 mgd using the ZENON MBR.
Retrofitting of the existing facility with ZENON's MBR will allow utilization of a considerable portion of the existing basin infrastructure. MBRs require a fraction of the space of a conventional wastewater treatment plant while treating at least a third more capacity. Once complete in the first quarter of 2006, this will become one of the largest operating MBR plants in the world.
"ZENON began by specializing in wastewater treatment over 20 years ago," said Andrew Benedek, Chairman and CEO. "Our ongoing commitment to innovation and cost reduction has made ZENON the leader in ultrafiltration membranes for wastewater treatment and reuse.
"In addition to the orders above, we have also been selected and received letters of intent for our MBR system for projects in Washington State, California and New Mexico," continued Mr. Benedek. This is clearly a signal that the technology has come more into the mainstream, particularly for water reuse applications."
The total treatment capacity represented by all of these projects is in excess of 40 mgd with a combined value of approximately $50 million.
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.
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 along with its contributions to environmental improvement.
ZENON has also been selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for the fourth consecutive year. An S&P/TSX Composite Index company, ZENON Environmental Inc. trades under the symbols ZEN and ZEN.A. Additional information is available at the Company's web site at www.zenon.com.
Source: ZENON Environmental Inc.