News
Friday March 26, 2010
CLEARFLOW EXPANDS IMPACT
Sherwood Park-based water cleaning technology company announces new partnership with Mexican firm Eco-Intellutions
The business of cleaning waste water became more of an international affair last week for Sherwood Park-based Clearflow Enviro Systems Group. Last week, the local company signed a deal with Mexican firm Eco-Intellutions to provide materials to clean waste water before its release into the environment. Eco-Intellutions deals with recycled water technology for various commercial and industrial entities in Mexico. At a presentation last week to announce the agreement between the two companies, Clearflow CEO Jerry Hanna said production will commence on 82 water cleaning tanks, with installations planned for April.
"They will be used to clean waste water and storm water," Hanna said.
"Once those installations are complete, the company will install another 900 systems. If they meet expectations, the Mexican government could become a permanent client," Hanna said.
Since its inception a few years ago, Clearflow has been developing and distributing technology that pulls pollutants and toxic material floating in water down to the bottom of a body of water via negatively-charged co-polymer blocks. The finished product isn't drinkable water, but Hanna claims it does have a lesser impact on the environment. He gave a demonstration of the technology at the meeting, mixing negatively charged blocks into a small jar containing effluent from a hog plant. Within seconds of Hanna swirling the water in the jar, the effluent began to drop to the bottom of the jar, clearing the previously cloudy water. The technology has been implemented in portable tanks that clean the water released by a business or industrial plant before it is released into sewers, rivers, lakes or tailings ponds.
The tanks are scalable, allowing them to treat water coming from variously-sized projects with different demands, Hanna said.
"We've become a solutions-based company," he added.
Clear Flow had been conducting tests on its treatment systems in Puebla, Mexico, before the agreement was formed with Eco-Intellutions. Last week's meeting was also an opportunity for local dignitaries and members of the chamber of commerce and economic development to learn about the new business venture. During Hanna's presentation, one slide featured a photo of sludge build-up from a New York City sewer. The solid mass coming out of the sewer's pipe was thick enough to fill the majority of the pipe it was pouring out of. Hanna estimated that $25 billion is spent on sewage cleaning each year in the United States and explained that treating water before entering the sewage system would prevent build-ups from occurring, and cut back on costs.
"Like Aspirin for our arteries," said Mayor Cathy Olesen, who sat in on the presentation.
"Exactly," Hanna responded.
Michael Di Massa, Sherwood Park
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