EBJ Business Achiever of the Week: Sovereign Consulting

This week we salute Sovereign Consulting Inc. (Robbinsville, NJ), winner of a 2012 Business Achievement Award in the technology merit category for its mining group’s design and pilot-testing of a sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) reactor for passive water treatment of coal-mine discharges to tributaries of the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania. These waterways are subject to new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit requirements for sulfate and metals. The passive system utilizes anaerobic conditions to convert sulfate to sulfide. Sulfate levels have been reduced from an influent concentration of 3,500 milligrams per liter (mg/l) to 600 mg/l (83% reduction) with a retention time approaching five days. Sulfide created by the reduction precipitates iron, lead, zinc, and copper as metal sulfides to below permitted levels in the effluent. The degradation of organic matter in the treatment media also creates significant alkalinity, enough to raise mine water discharge to a pH of 7.3. At this time, the system is entirely passive, with the exception of pumping the mine pool to the surface for treatment. It is anticipated that the present lime treatment system at the site will be discontinued, allowing the mining company a savings of $300,000 per year alone in hydrated lime cost. The passive system will also prevent the need to install a costly reverse osmosis (RO) system to meet NPDES discharge requirements, resulting in even further savings. For a full list of EBJ’s 2012 Business Achievement Award winners, please visit https://ebionline.org/2012-ebj-business-achievement-awards. EBJ will begin accepting nominations for 2013 Business Achievement Awards in October.