(Source: Business Wire)

In a special ground breaking ceremony held on October 2, 2009, federal,
state, and local government agencies joined together to announce more
than $16 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
funding to improve the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Berlin,
Maryland.
The improvements to the city of Berlin's WWTP are designed to
dramatically increase biological nutrient removal, which is of
particular importance to the area's public waters, and to improve the
overall sustainability of the facility.
As part of the facility upgrade, Parkson will install two of its
THERMO-SYSTEM® Active Solar Sludge Drying Chambers. The THERMO-SYSTEM
chambers will allow the facility to dry the biosolids that are a natural
part of the plant's treatment process and have the capability to
cost-effectively turn them into a beneficial Class A product for use as
a fuel source or soil amendment. Most importantly, the THERMO-SYSTEM
chambers are capable of reducing the weight and volume of the biosolids
by up to 75% using solar energy to provide over 90% of the energy needed
in the drying process.
According to Mark Prouty, Senior Project Manager for URS Corporation,
Wilmington, Delaware office (the consulting engineer for the Berlin WWTP
project), "We looked at many biosolids drying solutions, but our goal
was to put Berlin in the position of having numerous options for the use
or disposal of the biosolids from their plant. With Parkson's
system, all of the options are open, including soil amendment
applications and as a fuel source for equipment such as lime kilns. One
of the attractions of the THERMO-SYSTEM is its solar-based approach to
drying the biosolids and its ability to use a free renewable energy
source - the sun. Even if the facility chooses to transport the
dried biosolids to a landfill site, the THERMO-SYSTEM will significantly
reduce the volumes that have to be transported. It is the
solar-based drying approach in particular that aligns directly with the
sustainable objectives at the Berlin facility."
"We are proud to participate in the improvements being made at the
Berlin facility because we are able to bring a technology to the project
that truly helps the Berlin facility become more sustainable and allows
the facility to mitigate biosolids handling problems and costs for
decades into the future. It is reassuring to know that by
harnessing the power of the sun we are playing an important role in
converting a waste by-product into a valuable fuel or soil amendment," commented
Zain Mahmood, President and CEO of Parkson Corporation. "We see this
technology as a genuine contribution to a sustainable future for us all,
which is one of the most important results that we can deliver to the
world today and to future generations."
About Parkson Corporation:
With 25,000 global installations and a collective 1,600 years of
employee engineering experience, Parkson Corporation is a leading
provider of advanced solutions in water recycling and treatment and is
committed to providing clean water for the world. In 50 years of
existence, Parkson has treated over 7 trillion gallons of water.
Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, with offices in Chicago, Montreal,
Dubai and partners in Latin America, India and China, Parkson is an Axel
Johnson Inc. company. To learn more, visit www.parkson.com.
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.