Aquaworx AG supplies innovative solutions that make a valuable contribution to saving water - a precious resource
2009/09/10
Sophisticated technology produces clean water
Aquaworx AG supplies innovative solutions that make a valuable contribution to saving water – a precious resource
There is no question that water is the key to human survival. The world is waking up to the fact that this key resource must be treated with care - and as a result, a steadily expanding industry is developing from the need to provide clean water. And not before time: industrialized countries use around ten times as much water as their developing counterparts. Given that, in addition, over four billion people today have inadequate access to clean drinking water – or none at all – and that a mere ten per cent of the world's waste water is recycled, it is clear that long-term, sustainable treatment of waste water is set to become one of our greatest challenges in the near future. Technologies that make major contributions in this field are advancing. Aquaworx AG, a relatively new company, has its finger on the pulse of events, and is making major contributions to sustainable water resource management with its development and production of innovative technologies for the filtration and disinfection of water and liquids.
One solution from the company's successful product portfolio is AquaTriLight™. This water purification system employs a combination of UV radiation and customized, individually adjustable ultrasound cleaning to achieve outstanding disinfection levels. This standard of disinfection eliminates all microbiological elements in the water, and is designed to be used as a solution as part of a water cycle or as a final disinfection treatment.
Method – Two-pronged attack
UV light and ultrasound: no other company has yet succeeded in combining these two methods as Aquaworx has.
UV radiation is generated at a wavelength of 254 nm by monochrome low-pressure amalgam lamps. Long-life lamps of this kind have an operating life of up to 16,000 hours (equivalent to approximately two years). The UV rays disinfect the water, helping to reduce or even fully replace the use of free chlorine or ozone. The AquaTriLightTM line offers an enormous range of performance, with treatment plants available for volumes of eight to 1,000 m³/h.
In a further variation, the UV rays are generated by polychromatic medium-pressure lamps. These plants are designed for even larger volumes of drinking water, up to one cubic meter per second (1 m³/s) or 3,600 m³/h. They are also suitable for disinfection of waste water with lower UVT values1 of around 10mm, such as frequently occur in industrial or municipal waste water.
Aquaworx UV plants are designed for minimum dose levels of 400 J/m² RED2, extending to levels of 250 to 300 J/m² for process water and to 100 to 650 J/m² RED for waste water. For certain applications AquaTriLight can be designed with a 15 times higher Overkill than requested by the standard.
Ultrasound is the second element in Aquaworx' highly effective two-pronged approach. Aquaworx applies a frequency of 20 KHz to clean the Quartz casing tube, UV sensor window and the entire interior of the UV chamber.
AquaTriLightTM is made of 3.16 L stainless steel. It is extremely user-friendly, with an optional telemetry system enabling the plant operator to receive information of any faults via SMS and to operate AquaTriLightTM by remote control.
Of course, the plant also complies with all industrial regulations and standards. AquaTriLightTM incorporates the measurement system required by DVGW (German Technical and Scientific Association for Gas and Water), a 160° UV sensor for potable or process water versions, and a 300° UV sensor for waste water disinfection plants.
How it works
The plant works on the percolation principle. However, ultrasound cleaning is not a continuous process. The ultrasound used to clean the quartz tubing operates for between five and fifteen minutes per hour; for waste or surface water, fifteen to thirty minutes per hour of plant operation is sufficient. It can be individually adapted to the needs, including constant operation. Potable water disinfection by the AquaTriLightTM system works on a principle, in which the ultrasound is permanently used for preliminary bacterial deagglomeration.
The use of ultrasound to clean the quartz tubing and reactor housing prevents a build-up of biofilms (deposits of bacteria and bacterial agglomerations and other fouling like scaling for example) on the casing tube and reactor walls. The process first splits the bacterial walls using a trigonometric pre-phase of ultrasound (for 10m³ plants) and simultaneously uses UV rays to damage the bacterial DNA as the water passes through the UV light passage. An elimination rate of Log³ to Log5 can be achieved, equivalent to killing 99.9% to 99.999% of all germs in the water. This rate is offered by plants of all sizes. Because the formation of biofilms or scaling is effectively prevented, new bacteria lack any culture medium to reproduce and multiply – a feature that is critically important in the prevention of legionella.
Aquaworx uses Suprasil quartz glass, a type of glass which is highly permeable for UV rays and ensures significantly improved transmission rates of over 96% of the UV rays in the water. Another special feature of Aquaworx products is their revolutionary interaction of UV rays and ultrasound. Unlike systems of competing brands which use both elements separately, the Munich-based company has developed a highly efficient method combining ultrasound and UV rays.
Maximum versatility: AquaTriLightTM – or MicroSintFilterTM optional filtration level
It should be remembered that on its own, AquaTriLightTM is only a disinfection phase to eliminate microbiological elements in water. The plant can thus only be regarded as a part of the overall solution. Sewage treatment plants, for example, consist of multiple cleaning processes – physical, biological and chemical.
However, disinfection plants have an extensive range of possible uses.
In municipal applications, for example, AquaTriLightTM can be used for potable water supply or waste water cleaning, but also in the reuse of waste water as industrial water supply or for irrigation, or can even return the water to the water cycle as potable water. For municipal uses, AquaTriLightTM is available with Aquaworx' optional MicroSintFilterTM. MicroSintFilterTM is a filtration unit comprising a metallic membrane and ultrasound unit with cleaning function.
The field of industry also opens up a broad variety of different applications, including process water treatment – a practically universal need. In the food and beverage industry in particular, vast quantities of high-quality water, i.e. potable water, are used in manufacturing or to clean bottles before filling: a particularly interesting opportunity for disinfection treatment which would enable water recycling. Large-scale aquacultures such as Seaworld or horticultural centres with large numbers of greenhouses or automatic watering systems are also potential areas of use for the AquaTriLightTM system. Wet processes in the metal and wood processing industries are also potential areas of use. For industries located in the immediate vicinity of rivers or coastlines which tap this available water for production, treatment of process water using AquaTriLightTM enables them to use the water in their production processes and either return it as clean water to the rivers and seas it came from, or re-use it in their water cycle.
But AquaTriLightTM offers a host of uses at consumer level too, primarily in small-scale companies or classic home use, with uses including industrial water or swimming-pools. The combination of filtration, in the form of the MicroSintFilterTM, with ultrasound for cleaning and/or disinfection enables almost any Point of Entry (POE) or Point of Use (POU) to be "upgraded" for applications in potable, waste or process water treatment. For home use, the combination of AquaTriLightTM and MicroSintFilterTM can also serve as a full-scale solution within the water cycle (simultaneous potable water, industrial water, cistern water, garden watering, pool water) for disinfection and filtration.
In addition, AquaTriLightTM can be used in niche applications arising from special product features, such as legionella prevention in cooling tower technology and in retirement homes, hospitals, hotels and residential blocks. Here Aquaworx delivers performance extending far beyond the norm, joining forces with GML AG and TÜV Süd to offer a legionella management contract for 250 euros per month. Customers purchasing an AquaLegioConTM treatment system can sign up for this optional contract, under which Aquaworx provides maximum protection against bacterial contamination of potable water, thus contributing to long-term sustainable health and safety in buildings.
The contract covers all areas, from the provision of comprehensive information and alignment to specific local features by trained Aquaworx staff plus nationwide installation and putting into operation (by GML staff) to the annual sampling and testing required by law, for which GML holds specific certification. The laboratory evaluation and reports for these tests are subsequently performed by TÜV Süd and passed to Aquaworx as the basis for the quality test certificate "Legionella Free" (as understood in the terms of Germany's drinking water regulation). Legionella prevention by AquaTriLightTM DW 10 holds TÜV Süd certification.
The critical difference – distinction from conventional methods
The AquaTriLightTM and MicroSintFilterTM systems are almost wholly maintenance-free thanks to the self-cleaning effect described in detail above. A further major distinguishing feature is the complete freedom from all chemicals. Use of the AquaTriLightTM and/or MicroSintFilterTM with ultrasound cleaning enables up to two-thirds of the chemicals used in existing systems (such as cooling towers and swimming pools) to be reduced. Disinfection by AquaTriLightTM thus has the function of supporting ecological sustainability and, particularly when combined with the significantly lower cleaning and maintenance expenses and elimination of the need for thermal or chemical disinfection, can generate enormous cost savings over the long term. For a retirement home or hotel with 110 rooms, this can add up to savings of up to 7,500 euros per year. These savings are made possible by the systems' continuous UV output, which in turn is based on individual adjustment of the ultrasound operation in line with water quality. And a benefit felt in more places than retirement homes is that, unlike thermal systems in which legionella are killed off by heating the water to temperatures of up to 70°C, the solution offered by Aquaworx eliminates the need to heat the water and thus eliminates any danger of scalding when drawing water.
Aquaworx focuses on its customers, offering custom system design based on professional inspection of the proposed site by trained personnel. The systems are highly compact and can be installed both horizontally and vertically. The small AquaTriLightTM system, with throughput of 10m³/h, is a mere 0.2 m² in size, while the larger version for flowrates of up to 250 m³/h is 5m² in size. Although these solutions naturally speak for themselves, Aquaworx also offers potential purchasers the chance to see the system in action in one of its Aquamobiles: each of these mobile trailers houses a miniature version of the full system. In line with the customer's preference, MicroSintFilterTM and/or AquaTriLightTM can be connected to the customer's installation, or a tank of waste water can be filtered and/or disinfected before the viewer's very eyes.
The future is blue-green
Renewable energies, eco-friendly engines, recycling – "green" technologies are advancing throughout all areas of our lives. Particularly in the "blue" industry of water recycling and ensuring sufficient potable water for all, Aquaworx, with its solutions for treating and disinfecting liquids (and naturally, above all, water itself), is among the pioneers – a stroke of good fortune for our blue planet.
