Published July 2002

WaterTectonics creates compact
cleanup process

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

What a difference a year can make.

In the summer of 2001, a Monroe environmental business — WaterTectonics Inc. — was demonstrating its unusual new chemical-free electrocoagulation (EC) process for cleaning storm-water runoff from building sites, meeting and even exceeding federal and state turbidity standards set to protect salmon.

This summer, the company is cleaning water from a Fred Meyer and Home Depot shopping center construction site at the end of Highway 520 in Redmond — but this time using specialized settling tanks that reduce the need for settling ponds.

Chemist and WaterTectonics CEO Jim Mothersbaugh, working with Vice President of Operations Robert Schwindt of Monroe, have turned the electrocoagulation technology discovered in the early 1900s into a modern application that works simply and effectively, so effectively that it continues to meet and best the state Department of Ecology’s new clean-water standards.

Their process depends on the fact that the very fine and extremely lightweight floating particles in surface runoff water are charged, which keeps them separated from each other and suspended in water almost indefinitely.

When storm water is passed through an array of electrical cells that apply both positive and negative charges, the particles cling together, gather weight and sink to the bottom of the treatment tanks, leaving water clean enough for DOE standards — or better.

“Until recently, there were no alternatives to the chemical treatment (of storm water) that DOE accepted,” Mothersbaugh said. “DOE has given us great support in the development of our electrocoagulation process.”

A year ago, at a Renton condominium project, turbid water from a settling pond, rated at 128 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units), was treated with the EC process and discharged as clear water into Lake Washington at levels rated less than 5 NTU, exceeding DOE regulations. WaterTectonics has treated water as high as 4,500 NTU and discharged at under 5 NTU.

Being able to clean up runoff water is essential to staying in business these days, since the DOE has notified more than 500 industries and construction companies they need to apply for storm-water permits and meet state standards if they want to continue operating during the wet season.

“Where we see a lot of opportunity for our process in Snohomish County is in treating surface water mixed with saltwater during shoreline cleanup work with the Port of Everett’s waterfront development plans,” Mothersbaugh said.

With more experience behind it, the Monroe firm has moved to Seattle and expanded its promotion with the hiring of Dave Hall as its Marketing Director. New developments have given Hall an even better story to tell.

“We’re taking a unique approach at this Redmond site,” Mothersbaugh said. “We’ve demonstrated the reduced need for settling ponds, substituting specialized treatment tanks that process the water through electrocoagulation cells and into a polishing pond before discharging it directly into Bear Creek.”

Surface water at the shopping center construction site currently is collected in a maze of concrete vault chambers, then passed automatically through the EC system and into the polishing pond, where wetlands vegetation will be growing, providing a decorative aspect to the site.

“The most significant thing about this site is that we have demonstrated we can treat water without the settling pond, making the treatment facilities in the future more compact and allowing the contractor to operate on the part of the site that would normally be reserved for the settling pond,” Mothersbaugh said.

“We can potentially process 2 million gallons a day with this process, whereas a year ago we could only handle 100,000 to 200,000 gallons daily,” he said.

With this latest success, WaterTectonics is expanding its marketing.

“New regulatory standards are expected to require even more stringent treatment, such as removing 50 percent of phosphorus. We can already remove 90 percent with our process,” Hall said.

WaterTectonics claims its process has removed 90 percent or more of the metals and pesticides in runoff water, often to nondetectable levels.

WaterTectonics seems to be in the right place at the right time, with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency storm-water Phase II standards due to take effect in December, with a compliance deadline of March 2003 for permitting.

For more information, contact WaterTectonics at 815 Third Ave., Suite 615, Seattle, WA 98104-1620, call 206-957-0708 or visit the firm’s Web site, www.WaterTectonics.com.

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