Aqualete Industries was established with a single mission in mind: to provide a safe, economical, and green method for cleaning our water and preserving our environment for generations to come. Our vision for protecting the integrity of the aquifer and improving the environment is carried over in the design of our water treatment systems.
Aqualete Industries, Starr Water Treatment product:
The WTS2000, portable water treatment system is a physical treatment device that achieves superior results using the science of accelerated sedimentation.
This new technology utilizes dual-angle, inclined plate directional hydrodynamics to separate solids from the incoming water. Our four-phase treatment sequence in the WTS2000 effectively reduces:
- Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
- Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU)
- Kjeldahl nitrogen (organic nitrogen plus ammonia) (TKN)
- Total phosphorus
- Hydrocarbons and heavy metals
- Biochemical Oxygen Demand
- Chemical Oxygen Demand
System Specifications
The WTS2000 is constructed of 316 marine-grade stainless steel and has no moving parts. It uses no chemicals, electricity or replaceable filters. The System efficiently and effectively separates, collects, and retains pollutants until cleaned.
A standard flow rate for the WTS2000 is approximately 375gpm/22,500gph/540,000gpd. This varies slightly depending on the soil composition you are running through the system. A breakdown of flow rates based on soil type provides more detail.
A portable system, the WTS2000 is supplied including an attached trailer. It can be transported using most standard construction vehicles, including pick-up trucks. The total empty weight of the WTS2000, with trailer, is approximately 4800lbs. The System is not designed to be moved while filled or partially filled with water.
The WTS2000 was designed to be operated and maintained by any worker on a job site. It requires no special certification or training.
Aqualete Industries, Storm Drain Technologies product:
Our MTD has pioneered the field of directional hydrodynamics and particle separation.
Few understand how stormwater runoff and water pollution are related.
Untreated stormwater flowing into our waterways brings with it debris, silt, sand, oil, small pieces of rubber from the street, fertilizer, and other harmful chemicals. When existing treatment systems fail to operate or are clogged, everything collected from the street ends up in our bays, streams, rivers, and lakes.
When debris, such as garbage, enters a body of water, the ecosystem is placed under distress. The floating garbage leaches harmful chemicals into the water, prohibiting natural functions of the organisms. The impairing of these natural functions can be fatal, disrupting the balance of the ecosystem and having an overall negative impact on the entire body of water.
(Left): Outfall pipe leading into Barnegat Bay before installation of Aqualete Water Treatment BMP.
(Right): Same outfall pipe leading into Barnegat Bay after installation of SDT2670.
What’s Wrong with Leaves?
Most people understand the negative impact of trash and debris in our water. But, why are leaves and grass clippings a problem?
Biomass, such as leaves and grass, enters a body of water and continues to decompose into nutrients and leads to a process called eutrophication. Eutrophication is the process by which a body of water becomes enriched in dissolved nutrients (as phosphates) that stimulate the growth of aquatic plant life usually resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen. With low oxygen levels in water, other organisms are unable to survive. The mobile organisms will attempt to leave the area to seek out a more suitable habitat, while immobile organisms will perish in the impaired water conditions. This effect will lead to the overall destruction of the aquatic ecosystem.
Isn’t Sediment Just Sand?
It is not just the sediment that poses a problem, but what is attached to it.
Sediment entering a body of water does not settle immediately. Floating sediment within the water blocks sunlight, a necessary element for maintaining the temperature of the water and for vegetation to complete the process of photosynthesis. If this process is prevented, aquatic plants cannot complete their normal life functions and eventually perish. As the primary producers of the food chain, all other organisms in the ecosystem rely on aquatic vegetation at some level.
When sediment finally settles, it falls on top of the existing sediment, which is home to numerous species of benthic organisms that in the vast majority of cases rely on their exposure to the water to feed. As the sediment falls, these benthic organisms are buried and cannot feed, leading to their demise. As these organisms die off, other creatures that rely on such organisms to live perish. This fatal path travels through the entire food chain.
Harmful pollutants and toxins such as heavy metals are often attached to the sediment, introducing chemicals into the habitat and impairing the life functions of resident organisms. Any such toxins entering a body of water will have severe, negative impacts on the ecosystem by harming the organisms within. By stopping these pollutants from entering nearby bodies of water, these aquatic ecosystems can continue to thrive.
Aqualete Water Treatment Systems effectively reduce the rate at which these pollutants are introduced to our waters, helping keep these necessary ecosystems healthy.