Latitude Industrial Water Solutions, Inc. (LIWS) deploys its proprietaryElectro-Precipitation
(EP wastewater remediation systems to industrial clients throughout North America. Based on its (EP) technology, our Integrated Water Systems(IWS) remediation processes have the ability to convert massive amounts of contaminated water resulting from the operations of many types of industrial users into reusable water on a highly efficient and cost effective basis. This provides our clients with a sustainable solution by substantially reducing the cost and requirements of freshwater harvesting, regulatory compliance and wastewater disposal.
The industry applications currently most in need of the benefits that EP™, can provide include:
• Mining – acid mine drainage, metal contamination, radioactive contaminants, reducing solids in effluents discharged into streams and rivers
• Food Processing
• Agriculture
• Livestock Management
• Municipalities including public utilities and wastewater systems
• Coal Powered Utilities
• Maritime Applications including ballast, bilge water, gray water
- Features of the Electro-Precipitation™ technology and Benefits specific to these industries include:
• Mining – acid mine drainage, metal contamination, radioactive contaminants, reducing solids in effluents discharged into streams and rivers
• Use of the EP™ technology reduces or eliminates chemical cost & usage, hazardous waste residual content & increases the volume of water available for reuse.
• In many cases, valuable resources can be recovered, such as metal ores in mineral mining; and fats, oils and greases in food processing.
• We can remove most heavy metals and radioactive isotopes down to non-detectable levels.
• The efficacy of our process will allow unlimited re-use of the current wastewater stream.Municipalities including public utilities and wastewater systems
• We can remove most heavy metals and radioactive isotopes down to non-detect levels.
• Our technology is scalable as to volume based on multiples of a base +/- 630 GPM unit.
• Our technology is very energy efficient and our operating costs are minimal allowing for significant profit per unit of volume treated.
• Our treatment units can be mobile or fixed installations and can be run on either main power or generator.
It is estimated there are over 12,000 miles of streams and rivers impacted by Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Coal and metal mines, both surface and underground, account for 90% of the degradation. The primary cause of AMD is the oxidation of pyritic minerals forming an acidic, iron and sulfate-rich drainage. No two sources are exactly alike. Some of the variables are: acid concentration (pH), combination of metals, concentration of metals, suspended solids, dissolved solids, hardness, and flow rates, all of which affect the difficulty of treatment. Another variable is the standards the AMD must attain to be in compliance with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) technology-based requirements for the designated use of the stream into which it is discharged.
Water is essential to all mining and mineral processing activities. The minerals industry is increasingly facing competition from other users, such as agricultural and urban development, for access to this important natural resource. Additionally, water is the principal agent by which potential pollutants can be carried from mine sites to the surrounding environment by surface and subsurface flows, a scenario facing many mine sites in 2011. Consequently, sound water management practices are essential for the minerals industry to operate in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Latitude Industrial Water Solutions proprietary Electro-Precipitation™ offers previously unavailable levels of treatment having achieved extraordinary results by addressing the four main concerns in the mining industry:
Levels of Removal of specifically targeted contaminants per any given site problems beyond those of any other treatments. The Ability to achieve these customized results on a tremendous and practical scale of thousands of gallons per minute to address the smallest and the largest environmental, humanitarian, and commercial water problems:
The Ability to do this with a significant financial benefit in cost savings when compared truly to not just alternative “treatments”, but the complete list of required expenditures for all the collateral costs of other treatments; disposal, additional treatment, pretreatment, non-compliance fines, additional chemicals, labor, filter maintenance, gross abuse of fresh water usage, and even public opinion.
The remarkable proven ability to remove radiologicals such as Uranium from mining wastewater below EPA standards all the way to potable non-detect levels.
Latitude Industrial Water Solutions provides the latest in water remediation technology to the Mining Industry.
- The proprietary Electro Precipitation™ treatment process is the solution to most if not all of the water remediation issues of the industry.
• Our technology is very energy efficient and our operating costs are minimal allowing for significant profit per unit of volume treated.
• We can remove Total Suspended Solids (TSS) from most make-up or flowback water streams at 98% plus efficiency.
• Our technology kills essentially 100% of all problematic Biological, in particular bacteria that cause significant down-hole problems for operating companies.
• We can remove most heavy metals and radioactive isotopes down to nondetectable levels.
• The efficacy of our process will allow unlimited re-use of the current waste water stream.
• Our technology is scalable as to volume based on multiples of a base +/- 600 GPM unit.
• We can remove most heavy metals and radioactive isotopes down to non-detect levels.
• Our treatment units can be mobile or fixed installations and can be run on either main power or generators.
Why the Mining Industry is under extreme pressure to better manage water related issues:
- Environmental Impact and Usage Issues
• Water quality issues are reaching critical levels worldwide.
• Potable water aquifers are under extreme pressure in the West and Southwest and the mining industry’s access to water is being limited.
• Discharge of wastewater is now strictly controlled in all states and quality requirements for discharge are severe.
• Injection of wastewater in deep disposal wells is now being regulated and or eliminated in numerous areas.
• Because the industry is not considered “green”; it is therefore held to a higher standard by detractors.
• Most mining wastewater and the solids contained therein are considered hazardous waste by the EPA.
- Regulatory Environment
• The EPA as well as state regulatory agencies and DEQ’s are initiating more stringent regulations relating to water quality and disposal or treatment methodologies on a regular basis.
• The public is becoming aware of the use and disposal of mining wastewater and what it may mean to the environment.
Latitude Industrial Water Solutions Summary
Mines and quarries used to be located miles away from residential areas, but these days, more and more people live and work in mining towns. The wastewater that is gathered from mining are a result from the washing and grading processes that happen in the mines, or from rainwater dropping down on exposed rock areas. Because of the exposure, the wastewater from these areas normally has traces of surfactants and haematite. Other dangerous chemicals that have been found include certain oils and hydraulic oils.
Oils and hydraulic oils are also common contaminants. Wastewater from metal mines and ore recovery plants are inevitably contaminated by the minerals present in the native rock formations. Following crushing and extraction of the desirable materials, undesirable materials may become contaminated in the wastewater. For metal mines, this can include unwanted metals such as zinc and other materials such as arsenic. Extraction of high value metals such as gold and silver may generate slimes containing very fine particles in which physical removal of contaminants becomes particularly difficult. Again, remediation has been found to be the most effective method applied so that these contaminants are removed and the water in the area is made potable again.
Acid Mine Drainage treatments in many cases are operating where discharge standards will require systems in addition to lime precipitation; addition of MMF/RO, addition of flocculants, addition of resins, seasonal flows that dwarf average flows, offsite disposal of sludge, and exceptionally difficult discharge standards. Sometimes metals will co- precipitate (like iron and manganese) and sometimes they fight each other (like aluminum and manganese). Many chemical and lime treatments cannot meet the tighter EPA standards in the near future. The heavy to remove toxic sludge is becoming more of a recognized problem for municipalities, current disposal sites are becoming full, and costs of combined treatments is escalating. The reuse of water that is not as clean as that of LMS limits ultimately the number of times and the effectiveness of its continued use, thereby increasing again the need for fresh water usage.
As water gets more complicated RO cost goes up. Higher TSS increases cost and requires prefiltering. Higher hardness requires pretreatment. Higher concentrations of dissolved metals shorten filter and membrane life. Latitude EP™ technology can even make RO systems more efficient and reduce cost of their operation with pretreatment of raw water.
Latitude Industrial Water Solutions combines proven technology that has produced treatment success in every kind of mining wastewater beyond what any competitor has been able to do at scalable levels.This level of treatment has not been possible before at overall operational costs, which are most often below the complete actual costs of any other scalable treatment. The preservation of our fresh water supplies, the increased safety to current water tables whether near population centers or not, and the unusually effective cleaning of current highly polluted bodies of water from mining are compelling reasons to learn more about Latitude Industrial Water Solutions.
