(TheNewswire)
VANCOUVER, BC – TheNewswire - February 2, 2022 – BQE Water Inc.(TSXV:BQE), a leader in industrial wastewatertreatment, has successfully completed the commissioning and start-upand has now entered the operations phase for a water treatment plantutilizing its patented and award winning Selen-IX™ processtechnology for selenium removal to remediate a coal ash pond in theEastern US for a major American power utility.
The Selen-IX™ plant has a treatment capacity of 1,500 US gallons perminute and is designed to remove selenium down to below 7.7 parts perbillion. During commissioning, treated water from the plant achievedselenium concentrations below the 1 part per billion detection limitof the local analytical laboratory. At the site, the plant willoperate downstream of a treatment system to remove suspended solidsand metals designed by WesTech Engineering, a US basedsupplier of equipment and water treatment systems for municipal andindustrial applications.
BQE Water will operate the Selen-IX™ plantunder contract to WesTech who manages overall siteoperations. Project requirements call for the plant to operate 50hours per week from Monday to Friday and be able to match weatherdependent water inflows. With the ability to start up and shut downoperations as needed and ramp up and down to adjust for the volume ofwater to be treated, Selen-IX™ as a non-biological technology, isthe only commercially viable solution to tackle these requirements.
“Very early on, we recognized the benefits of BQE Water’sSelen-IX™ technology for ash pond remediation and are extremelyhappy that Selen-IX™ performs to and exceeds expectations. We arealso excited to combine our core strengths and expertise with those ofBQE Water in providing the power generation industry with anon-biological selenium treatment option that produces superioreffluent water quality, allows for operational flexibility unheard ofwith competing biological systems, and reduces treatment risks andcosts,” stated Philip Lake, EVP Services at WesTech.
David Kratochvil, President & CEO of BQE Water, added, “It isexciting to see the growing awareness and adoption of Selen-IX™ as agame-changing technology for the power generation industry. As part oftheir ESG initiatives, we are seeing the power sector proactivelyaddress environmental legacies. With industry searching for bettersolutions than what biological systems can offer, we are pleased thatSelen-IX™ can fill that gap. The partnership with WesTech and theopportunity to operate the Selen-IX™ plant for one of the leading USutilities provides us with a solid base from which we can grow in thisgeography and market.”
About Selen-IX™
Selen-IX™ is a patented, award winning process technology that iscurrently the only commercially available non-biological treatmentsystem that has been applied on a large scale to remove the selenateform of selenium from wastewater. Selen-IX™ removes selenium tobelow detection limits, has zero risk of acute and chronic effluenttoxicity and the by-product of treatment is a stable solid residuewith offtake potential. Selenium removal and its management is anenvironmental issue of concern in mining, metallurgical processing andpower generation where process water comes into contact with seleniumbearing compounds contained in mineral deposits and fossil fuels. Inrecognition of its disruptive nature, Selen-IX™ is the recipient ofthe 2021 Environmental Award from Engineers & GeoscientistsBritish Columbia, a 2021 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering AchievementHonor Award from Chemical Engineering Magazine and a 2022 Top ProjectAward from Canada’s Clean50.
About Coal Ash Ponds
Coal ash is the waste by-product of electricity generation by coalfired power plants and has historically been stored in permitted ashponds. The ash often contain metals, including selenium, requiringremoval. Currently there are over 300 coal powered facilitiesoperating across the US with coal ash ponds. Although the rate of coalash generation is expected to decrease with clean energy initiatives,a large inventory of coal ash ponds exist across the country. Severallarge utilities in the US have committed to closing down andremediating existing ash ponds.
About BQE Water
BQE Water is a service provider specializing in watertreatment and management for metals mining, smelting and refining.We are helping to transform the way industry thinks about water inthe context of natural resource projects by offering services andexpertise which enables more sustainable water management practicesand improved overall project performance at reduced risks. BQE Waterinvests in innovation and has developed unique intellectual propertythrough the commercialization of several technologies at mine sitesaround the world for organizations including Glencore, Jiangxi Copper,Freeport-McMoRan and the US EPA. BQE Water is headquartered inVancouver, Canada and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under thesymbol BQE. Visit www.bqewater.com for more information.
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Certain information contained herein maynot be based on historical fact and therefore constitutes"forward-looking information" under applicable Canadiansecurities legislation. This includes without limitation statementscontaining the words "plan", "expect","project", "estimate", "intend","believe", "anticipate", "may","will" and other similar words or expressions.Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates ofmanagement at the date the statements are made, and are subject to avariety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that may causeactual events or results to differ materially from those expressed orimplied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could causeor contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, theCompany’s dependence on key personnel and contracts, uncertaintywith respect to the profitability of the Company’s technologies,competition, technology risk, the Company’s ability to protect itsintellectual property and proprietary information, fluctuations incommodity prices, currency risk, environmental regulation and theCompany’s ability to manage growth and other factors described inthe Company’s filings with the Canadian securities regulators at www.sedar.com (including without limitation the factors described in the sectionentitled "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's MD&Afor the year ended December 31, 2020). Given these risks anduncertainties, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance onforward-looking statements. All forward-looking information containedherein is based on management’s current expectations and the Companyundertakes no obligation to revise or update such forward-lookinginformation to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except asrequired by law.
For further information please contact:
BQE Water Inc.
Suite 250 – 900 Howe Street
Vancouver BC Canada V6Z 2M4
David Kratochvil, President & CEO
dkratochvil@bqewater.com
Heman Wong, CFO
hwong@bqewater.com
604-685-1243 or 1-800-537-3073
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