Geotubes technology.
Geotubes are emptied at the Greenway Pollution Control Plant in London, Ont. The ash-management system has won the 2012 Technical Innovation Award from the Ontario Public Works Association. The system’s consulting team included Eganville-based Bishop Water Technologies
Kevin Bossy, Bishop Water Technologies
Bishop Water Technologies Inc. of Eganville shared the spotlight last week when the City of London received the 2012 Technical Innovation Award for its new ash-management system.
The award was presented at the Ontario Public Works Association’s annual conference in Mississauga, where Bishop Water Technologies chief executive officer Kevin Bossy was in attendance.
Bossy, who lives in Haley Station and works out of Eganville and Renfrew, says the company is proud to be associated with an innovative solution for the City of London.
The city implemented Bishop Water Technologies’ Geotube technology to manage the treatment and redistribution of incinerator ash at the Greenway Pollution Control Plant.
The ash came from incinerating wastewater treatment solids that the city’s wastewater plants produce. The city wanted to find a way to treat the ash that was stored in two lagoons and periodically transported offsite.
London requested a pilot project from Bishop Water Technologies after the Eganville company did onsite testing and dewatering trials to determine the optimum chemicals for geotube’s dewatering process.
The project involved working with RV Anderson engineering group and the City of London to develop a methodology and design that allowed efficient operation of the Geotubes.
Bishop Water Technologies co-ordinated a pilot project in 2010 at a cost of $80,000. That successful pilot project led to construction of a $1.3 million facility that features seven geotubes measuring 55 by 35 feet.
Staff from Geo-Dredging in Renfrew and Bishop Water Technologies were on site when the facility was commissioned in July 2012.
The fly ash is treated inside the geotubes.
The solids are separated and the filtrated solution is returned to the city’s wastewater treatment system, prior to redistribution into the Thames River.
Bishop Water Technology’s Geotube system is used in Atlantic Canada and in such Ontario communities as Eganville, Athens, Cottam, Clarence-Rockland and Port Perry.
“We’re an expanding business, with offices in Eganville and Renfrew, and sales people across Ontario, that is also working with partners in Atlantic Canada and doing work in water treatment in the tarsands,” said Bossy.
“In the wide scheme of things, the award really shows our technology can be used in almost any footprint. It basically evokes our desire to continue to pursue intelligent solutions for water.”
The company’s previous award happened in September 2010 when its Eganville Geotubes treatment facility won the Water Environment Association of Ontario’s Exemplary Biosolids Award.