Wastewater treatment facilities use aerobic bacteria to consume organic wastes in ponds and holding tanks. However, the naturally occurring microbes need a high level of dissolved oxygen to multiply and effectively consume organic material. Supplying that oxygen is not always efficient, leading to high electricity costs and a large carbon footprint. A new product making its debut at the 2015 Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show, the PrO2 Series Bio Accelerator from Greener Planet Solutions, attempts to resolve that issue.

The PrO2 Series can deliver oxygen in three states — full nucleation, nanobubble or microbubble. A small slipstream of water, supersaturated with oxygen, reintroduces oxygenated fluid back into the water using precision applicators.

“Because we can hold oxygen in a solution, the PrO2 essentially creates super-charged microbes,” says Randy Redmer, sales manager for Greener Planet Solutions. “It provides a highly oxygenated waste stream for the microbes to feed off. Because the oxygen is efficiently injected directly into the waste stream, there is none gassed off.”

The PrO2 can be permanently installed, or is small enough to mount in the back of a pickup truck for portable use at 26 inches square and 59 inches high. It can inject up to 6 pounds of oxygen per hour and can deliver the dissolved oxygen stream at a rate of 15 gpm. Redmer says the unit is adapted from high-flow supplemental oxygen therapy used in the medical field.

“It actually creates more oxygen surface area because the oxygen isn’t being injected directly on the surface,” says Redmer. “If you actually look at a cross section as a waste stream is being treated, it looks like a layered structure, almost like layered Jello.”

The unit is designed for municipal, industrial and commercial applications. The company has sold several to medium-sized municipal wastewater treatment facilities but also sees it as a potential added service for waste and septic pumpers and even landscape architects.

“This is a unit that is easy to set up, as full systems can be installed in a trailer unit,” Redmer says. “It can eliminate algae and bacteria in a holding pond or decorative pond in three days or less. Running the unit costs less than $1 per hour in electricity and oxygen combined.”

The 2015 WWETT Show was the first for Greener Planet Solutions, and Redmer says the reaction exceeded expectations. Staff members answered several questions about applications of the technology that they hadn’t even thought of.

“This is really only the second trade show where we’ve had our technology, so we’re learning as much about the industry as the attendees are learning about us,” says Redmer. “We’ve talked to onsite system installers who see this as an alternative to aeration, and septic pumpers see it as an efficient alternative for treating their own effluent. We learn more applications with each person we talk with.” 517/682-0090; www.gps-na.com.