Westminster, CA – January 4, 2021 – BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB:BLGO), developer of cutting-edge environmental technologies and a full-service engineering company, announced the publication of a peer-reviewed scientific paper in the Journal of Environmental Management confirming that the energy-efficient and cost-effective Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) water disinfection system also safely removes certain micropollutants from municipal wastewater. The paper concludes that the AOS is “a promising and environmentally friendly technology for wastewater treatment, remediation, and management”, highlighting the additional value the AOS can provide customers by addressing an important and poorly served technical need in the water industry. Dr. Greg Goss, in the Faculty of Science at the University of Alberta and the researcher who led the study, commented “The AOS is a major technological breakthrough for the treatment of micropollutants.”
Micropollutants are widespread synthetic chemicals that end up in municipal water supplies around the world. They originate from pharmaceuticals, personal care products, detergents, pesticides and more, and are linked to ecological damage and human health issues. They are distinct from other water contaminants because they are difficult and expensive to remove using conventional technologies such as UV, ozone, and biological treatment.
The need for cost-effective treatment of micropollutants in water and wastewater is well recognized in the water industry. One significant issue with municipal wastewater is the feminization of fish in the receiving environment due the presence of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) such as estradiol. This paper reports that the BioLargo AOS effectively removes the EDC effects of estradiol commonly present in municipal wastewater. The other micropollutant tested in the study, benzo[a]pyrene, is regulated by the EPA pursuant to the Safe Water Drinking Act. The U.S. EPA maintains a published list of “contaminants of emerging concern” that includes a number of additional micropollutants in municipal wastewater that may cause ecological or human health impacts, but are not yet regulated. As regulatory scrutiny continues to increase surrounding micropollutants, municipalities are seeking technologies that can affordably and safely remove them from their wastewater streams to prevent surface water contamination.
BioLargo’s ground-breaking and patented Advanced Oxidation System (AOS) is a water treatment platform that provides high-level disinfection and consumes less electricity than competing technologies. The AOS’ ability to eliminate the deleterious effects of micropollutants in wastewater offers significant additional value to the municipal wastewater treatment market by providing affordable and effective micropollutant removal in addition to its primary use as an energy-efficient and cost-effective wastewater disinfection technology.
Two significant commercial-scale AOS projects are starting in the coming year. The first, at a municipal wastewater treatment plant near Montreal, Canada, will assess the AOS’ ability to efficiently disinfect and remove micropollutants and other organic contaminants at an operating municipal wastewater treatment plant. The second will treat poultry-processing wastewater at a certified organic farm in Alberta, Canada. The development of the AOS, and both pilot projects, are being led by BioLargo’s Alberta, Canada, based subsidiary, BioLargo Water. In addition to these two commercial-scale pilot projects, BioLargo is now screening potential distributors in North America.
Dr. Richard Smith, President of BioLargo Water, commented, “We will be shipping our first commercial-scale AOS unit in the coming weeks to the wastewater treatment plant near Montreal, and will install our first full-scale ‘zero liquid discharge’ system in our project with Sunworks Farms in Alberta in the first half of 2021. These initial projects will help demonstrate the substantial value the AOS provides in wastewater treatment, and we believe will ultimately lead to significant market adoption.”
To read the peer-reviewed published paper, visit: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1cHo114Z6telDf
Highlights from the paper:
AOS is highly effective at eliminating the negative effects of two particularly difficult micropollutants, suggesting it may be effective against a wide range of similar compounds.
The AOS requires extremely low levels of electric energy to operate.
The AOS did not increase toxicity or introduce additional hazards (i.e., decontamination by-products) in the post-treatment effluent.
This work was funded in part by the Canadian Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP).
To learn more about BioLargo Water and the AOS, visit www.biolargowater.com and the website of its parent company BioLargo at www.biolargo.com.
About BioLargo, Inc.
BioLargo, Inc. is an innovator of technology-based products and environmental engineering solutions provider driven by a mission to “make life better”. We feature unique disruptive solutions to deliver clean air, clean water and a clean, safe environment (www.biolargo.com). Our engineering division features experienced professional engineers dedicated to integrity, reliability, and environmental stewardship (www.biolargoengineering.com). Our industrial odor control division, ONM Environmental, Inc. (www.onmenvironmental.com) features CupriDyne Clean Industrial Odor Eliminator (www.cupridyne.com), which eliminates the odor-causing compounds and VOCs rather than masking them, and is now winning over leading companies in the solid waste handling and wastewater industries and other industries that contend with malodors and VOCs. Our subsidiary BioLargo Water (www.biolargowater.ca) developed the Advanced Oxidation System "AOS," a disruptive industrial water treatment technology designed to eliminate waterborne pathogens and recalcitrant contaminants with better energy-efficiency and lower operational costs than incumbent technologies.
Contact Information
Dennis P. Calvert
President and CEO, BioLargo, Inc.
888-400-2863
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