The Victor Valley Wastewater Reclamation Authority (VVWRA), on the edge of the Mojave desert in California, has selected FibrePlate™ hybrid-membrane™ technology manufactured by Fibracast Inc for two sub-regional membrane bioreactor (MBR) facilities.
The MBR facilities will be located in high growth areas of the service region and produce a combined 2 MGD (7,570 m³/d) of high quality effluent for landscape irrigation.
“FibrePlate membranes are a game-changing technology and they are the first 100% newly designed membrane that the industry has seen in a long time,” said Andrew Benedek, executive chairman and chief technology officer of Canada’s Anaergia, which owns Fibracast. “The hybrid-membrane™ combines the best advantages of hollow-fibre and flat-sheet technologies to deliver a significant capital and operating cost advantage to our clients.”
in 1980, Benedek founded Zenon Environmental, which developed ZeeWeed ultrafiltration membranes and was bought by GE in 2006.
In addition to providing a drought-proof supply of water, the sub-regional MBR facilities will reduce the overall load on the collection system, enabling VVWRA to defer costly infrastructure expansion and reduce the energy costs associated with pumping recycled water.
“This is a critical project that will help to ensure the future sustainability and economic prosperity of our communities,” said Logan Olds, general manager of VVWRA. “We have a proven track record of employing best-in-class technologies to help solve critical wastewater infrastructure challenges. FibrePlate represents a new generation of membrane technology that offers unique operational efficiencies including future capacity expansion capabilities for the VVWRA.”