Mr. Marc Blanchet reports

H2O INNOVATION COMPLETES ITS LARGEST UF SYSTEM USING ITS OPEN-PLATFORM FIBERFLEX(TM)

H2O Innovation Inc. has completed the commissioning of its largest ultrafiltration (UF) project to date for the Clifton water district, Colorado.

This ultrafiltration system was designed, manufactured and commissioned for the Clifton water district in Colorado. This design-build project is rated to produce 12 million gallons per day (45,400 cubic metres per day) of potable water with feed water from the Colorado River and the Grand Valley canal. Aside from the 30 MGD (113,500 cubic metres per day) Montevina, Calif., project currently in its manufacturing phase, Clifton is the largest UF project delivered by the company to date.

"Through this project, H2O Innovation is proving that the open-platform FiberFlex, a customer-oriented flexible concept we started promoting in the marketplace 24 months ago, is indeed a success from a technical and commercial standpoint," said Denis Guibert, PhD, PEng, vice-president projects and engineering.

To date, H2O Innovation has 15 FiberFlex UF facilities being designed or in operation, totalling over 55 MGD (208,000 cubic metres per day) of capacity. Of these, four facilities are over 10 MGD (38 MLD) showing that the technical and commercial model developed by the company for a renewed ultrafiltration market applies to both small and large facilities.

The Clifton facility is treating settled water and includes eight identical UF skids. The design further incorporates constant flow management on the UF system to facilitate control of the pre- and posttreatment units as well as chemical dosing systems. This project is a retrofit into an existing plant and this created additional engineering challenges. Plant construction had to be scheduled within an operating facility to coincide with the low flow winter months. The project was executed from purchase order to commissioning in less than a year, demonstrating again the ability of H2O Innovation to deliver projects with demanding schedules.

"We are pleased to have selected and worked with H2O Innovation. The FiberFlex technology integrated perfectly into our complex renovation project and it protects our investment in membrane infrastructure which were key requirements for us. The system and manufacturing quality, project delivery, and on-site support have been outstanding," said Dale Tooker, manager, Clifton water district.

The FiberFlex racks provide interchangeability and accommodate several types of ultrafiltration modules -- similar to spiral wound membrane systems. The use of a FiberFlex rack makes changing module suppliers easier and allows the end-user to competitively bid these suppliers without having to account for costly infrastructure retrofits that are required for single-module, proprietary UF designs. It also protects the investments made by end-users against technical obsolescence and provides much wider upgrade possibilities with more ultrafiltration membrane modules available to choose from. Endorsed by major membrane manufacturers, H2O Innovation's approach to a unified rack and ancillary equipment design, the FiberFlex system is a long-awaited innovation for ultrafiltration systems. The use of FiberFlex racks for the Clifton drinking water treatment system differentiated H2O Innovation from other bidders during the original equipment manufacturer selection process.

As H2O Innovation continues to bid and win more ultrafiltration projects, the FiberFlex approach is becoming a design basis and requested by more and more consultants and clients. The Clifton project is a great example of H2O Innovation's ability to take large projects with technological challenges and deliver on its commitments.