ANAHEIM, CA, May 20, 2008 -- The United States Congress passage of the Water Recovery Bill on May 9 follows on the heels of the launch of an innovative new water treatment plant that does exactly what the bill seeks to accomplish. Employing a zero-waste ion exchange technology, RG Global's Catalyx Fluid Solutions (CFS) subsidiary makes groundwater reuse from certain types of energy production an immediately viable, environmentally friendly and economical option.
The new legislation was set forth to explore such usability options for groundwater pumped out during oil and gas production, and directs the U.S. Interior Department to assess the feasibility of recovering and cleaning up millions of gallons of water that are typically reinjected into the ground or otherwise disposed of during oil and gas development. This new bill authorizes federal fund-matching grants for pilot projects that would test technology to make the water usable for irrigation, industrial or municipal use.
RG Global CFS in April 2008 launched its first plant employing an innovative proprietary ion exchange technology to treat discharge water from coal bed methane (CBM) wells, making it suitable for reuse more cost efficiently and with less waste byproduct than other existing methods. It effectively resolves the problem of disposing massive volumes of contaminated CBM produced water without depleting groundwater supplies or harming the surrounding environment or water bodies.
"CBM discharge water treated with our CFS ion exchange technology falls far below the 150 parts per million (ppm) of sodium maximums set by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and is completely safe for reuse in irrigation and many other applications," said Juzer Jangbarwala, CTO of RG Global. "The treated water has 50% less sodium than Los Angeles tap water, clearly illustrating that sodium falls within acceptable levels for human and animal consumption. While the water would have to be further processed for human consumption, it can be used for irrigation and other applications with no further treatment."
CFS's ion exchange technology is also adaptable for removal of various minerals and contaminants to enable the reuse of water from other contaminated groundwater and commercial applications such as:
1) Produced water from oilfields,
2) Arsenic, nitrate and perchlorate removal,
3) Removal of heavy metal from rinses in metal finishing and semiconductor operations,
4) Textile dyeing waste recycling.
The CFS water treatment process costs approximately 50% less than competitors, making it much more cost effective to harvest clean-burning CBM domestically and reduce oil dependence.
Jangbarwala stated, "We agree with Representative Mark Udall (D- Colorado), one of the water recovery bill's sponsors, who said, 'This bill will change an energy-industry problem into an opportunity, not just for oil and gas producers but for everyone else who would benefit from increased supplies of usable water.' However, we believe RG Global already has one very important piece of the solution that benefits all parties and we're very eager to work with the energy industry and other industries to help them economically produce energy and other products while preserving our precious water resources and the environment."
RG Global CFS's multi-million dollar CBM water treatment plant near Gillette, Wyoming, is the first phase of three phases and part of a five-year, $20-22 million gross revenue build-own-and-operate contract with a major petroleum/CBM production company. It currently is treating 1.2 million gallons of water per day, has the capacity to treat 30,000 barrels per day (BPD) of coal bed water and can be operated continuously at 120% of capacity.
Using a patent-pending ion exchange technology, the plant removes sodium, barium, iron and other inorganic contaminants present in the water that is extracted from underground coal beds with less than 1% waste byproduct. Due to the catalyst and treatment used, the resulting waste is primarily sodium sulphate, which RG Global sells for use in various industrial manufacturing processes. CFS's automated 24/7 monitoring system enables instantaneous adjustments in water treatment in response to changes in the water content to ensure that the final discharge water meets environmental standard requirements at all times.
RG Global Lifestyles Inc. develops and markets innovative technologies for water purification and wastewater treatment.
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