Happy New Year to all our Water Technology readers! It’s been a busy few months for the staff here at Water Technology. As you click through the pages of this issue, you’ll notice a few changes. Beginning with this first issue of 2020, we have merged the styles of Water Technology and Industrial WaterWorld, our former sister publication. We will continue to cover the same topics you know and trust from our team of editors and contributing authors.
One of the largest (and more exciting) changes you’ll find is more diverse product sections. As always, our team is dedicated to keeping you in touch with the latest technologies and solutions for your facility. These new sections will provide more product variety, with spotlights on specific technologies in every issue. This issue’s spotlights are on membranes and flow, level, and pressure measurement.
Inside, you’ll also find a new, expanded trade show section, which includes exhibiting company profiles as well as product showcases. In this edition, we’re highlighting the Membrane Technology Conference and the Craft Brewer’s Conference. The Water Technology team will see you at both shows!
For this first issue of the new year, we turn our focus to water management in the pharmaceutical industry. Our pharma-focused cover story is an article about filtration. The pharmaceutical industry requires filtration for a number of processes, including plasma fractionation, specialty enzymes, vitamins, diagnostics, phytopharmaceuticals, and red and white biotechnology. Mark Ligon explains the best systems and filters for different processes and the drawbacks of each.
Continuing with the pharma theme is an article by Jonathan Rhone, who addresses methods to combat active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in pharmaceutical effluent. Thermal oxidation/incineration, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), and activated carbon are all commonly used to address API-contaminated wastewater, but each also has its limitations, as explained in the article.
Amin Almasi offers a discussion of boiler feedwater pump operation. While steam turbine-driven pumps are more commonly used in industrial applications, electric motor-driven pumps are recommended for start-up and backup purposes. He explains common operational mistakes associated with these pumps, such as wear and corrosion, and dives into pump subsystems.
Lastly, we present a case study from California. Joshua Tree Brewery experienced an issue opening its first taproom when the partners discovered the brewery effluent had to be treated on-site. Its solution was Aquacycl’s BioElectrochemical Treatment Technology (BETT), which uses bacteria to accelerate treatment rates.
This will also be my last issue as editor of Water Technology. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the industrial water and wastewater industry and seeing firsthand the technological innovations that will help fuel future sustainability, treatment, and reuse. Thank you to all our readers and contributors for giving us the tools that help us aid you in making economically and environmentally sound decisions. I’ll see you around the trade show floor!
We hope you enjoy this edition of Water Technology magazine and find its new, expanded format useful and informative.
We welcome your feedback. Email your comments to Editorial Director Angela Godwin at [email protected].
