Wallenius AOT wins ‘Sustainable Product of the Year’

In the picture, left to right: Toby Hunt (Guardian), Rehan Rafique (NSG Group), Juliette Sinclair (Guardian), Lynn Sencicle (editor ACR News, which sponsored the award).

Guardian Water Treatment’s bacteria killing ‘green’ alternative to chemical dosing, Wallenius Advanced Oxidation Technology (AOT), has won ‘Sustainable Product of the Year’ at 2016’s HVR awards. Safe and environmentally friendly compared with traditional chemical water treatment methods, Wallenius AOT has been proven to kill 99.999% of bacteria, helping combat the UK’s growing Pseudomonas problem, which causes fouling, inefficiencies and breakdown in closed-circuit water systems.

Trialled for the first time as a Pseudomonas treatment for a chilled water system at NSG Group Company, Pilkington Glass’ factory in Merseyside, Guardian’s award winning entry demonstrated the significant savings AOT made in this application. Chemical expenditure and maintenance requirements were dramatically cut, with very little energy wasted and greater volumes of water reused, offering a far more sustainable and cost effective solution than traditional chemical dosing systems.

AOT benefits at Pilkington

• £12,000 a year reduction in chemical costs
• Less water wastage
• Massively reduced maintenance requirement
• 100% kill rate of detectable Pseudomonas bacteria

Read the Pilkington Glass case study, here

Steven Booth, Associate Director for Guardian Water Treatment said: “Winning this award is a great achievement, one that identifies the value of AOT as a real force for improving the sustainability credentials of essential water treatment, while also making life easier and cheaper for building managers.

“AOT fits well with Guardian’s overall approach; delivering integrated and bespoke water treatment solutions that take into account how a building is designed and used going forward.”

Rehan Rafique, UK Buyer for NSG Group Procurement, said: “We are delighted that the hard work undertaken by Guardian Water Treatment has resulted in well-deserved recognition. AOT has enabled Pilkington Group Limited to take advantage of cutting edge Water Treatment Technology to deliver a host of benefits.  We very much look forward to working with Guardian Water Treatment to further drive sustainability through innovative solutions such as AOT throughout the wider Group.”

What the HVR Award judges said: “Wallenius AOT by Guardian Water Treatment provides a sustainable solution to Pseudomonas prevention and fulfils all of the criteria for the category.

“The easy to install Wallenius AOT provides an environmentally friendly equivalent to treating water, with test data and case studies demonstrating a higher bacterial kill rate over chemicals and lower energy consumption over alternative UV systems.”

 

How does AOT work?

Wallenius AOT is a patented water treatment system, providing a nonchemical alternative to water purification. A safer and greener option compared with traditional chemical water treatment, Wallenius AOT has been proven to kill 99.999% of Pseudomonas and Legionella bacteria.

Utilising a specific frequency of light together with photocatalytic semiconductor surfaces to produce free radicals – just like nature does with sunlight, these reactive radicals break down harmful micro-organisms and other pollutants in water. The process occurs within a closed chamber in which the radicals are generated.

Short lived, the radicals only exist for only a few milliseconds, which means they have no possibility of leaving the reaction chamber resulting in no chemical by-products to the system water.

To make AOT suitable for closed circuit system, Guardian reduced the sensitivity of the sensors to allow for different water qualities and adjusted flow rates so higher volumes could pass through the unit. The addition of commissioning sets to the flow and return of the unit mean flow rates can be measured and balanced correctly.

Read more about Wallenius AOT, here.