Westminster, CA – April 22, 2021 – BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB:BLGO), a developer of sustainable technologies and a full-service environmental engineering company, has achieved a critical technical milestone in the development and commercialization of its sustainable treatment technology for PFAS-contaminated water (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), called the Aqueous Electrostatic Concentrator (AEC). This development, which involved a re-design of the AEC’s electrical configuration, dramatically improves its operating and maintenance costs. With this technological hurdle out of the way, the company can now finalize agreements for the technology’s first demonstration pilots and commercial trials.
PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals used in the manufacture of countless household, commercial, and industrial goods. Because of their resilient chemical structure, they accumulate in rivers, lakes, and groundwater, as well as in humans and other living things. They have been linked to chronic health problems such as cancer, hormone disorders, and increased cholesterol. The Biden administration has made regulation of PFAS in drinking water a top priority, having recently issued final regulatory determinations for the two most common PFAS compounds under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
The most common water treatment process for removing PFAS is filtration by granulated activated carbon (GAC). This technique has a significant downside, however: it generates huge volumes of PFAS-laden carbon waste that requires disposal, usually at a landfill or by incineration, both of which are costly and have poor environmental outcomes. In comparison, the BioLargo AEC uses electrophoresis to collect PFAS onto proprietary membranes, using little electricity and requiring a diminutive physical footprint. The AEC is projected to have significantly more affordable operating costs and generate a fraction of the PFAS-laden waste compared to carbon filtration.
BioLargo Engineering, Science & Technologies has succeeded in modifying the AEC to extend the useful lifespan of its specialized membranes, which are a crucial component of the technology. This advancement has improved the operating and maintenance metrics for the technology, potentially reducing the frequency of membrane replacement by a factor of six. While the AEC was already being prepared for its first commercial pilots, this enhancement improves the technology’s long-term costing metrics for customers and is expected to improve the technology’s rate of adoption by PFAS treatment customers. BioLargo has already patented the AEC and has filed at least one patent application to expand the existing intellectual property coverage for the AEC with the new modification.
Dennis P. Calvert, BioLargo’s CEO commented on the technology’s future, “With this advancement to the AEC’s design, our next step is commercial trials. We can now finalize the details of several trials at municipalities on the West Coast and in the American Midwest as well as a major federal government organization. BioLargo Engineering is already working to build the demonstration units for those projects. We believe the success of these initial pilot projects will provide the commercial validation data that will convince State authorities to adopt the technology en masse.”
About BioLargo, Inc.
BioLargo, Inc. (OTCQB:BLGO) invents, develops, and commercializes innovative platform technologies to solve challenging environmental problems like PFAS contamination, advanced water and wastewater treatment, industrial odor and VOC control, air quality control, and infection control. With over 13 years of extensive R&D, BioLargo holds a wide array of issued patents, maintains a robust pipeline of products, and provides full-service environmental engineering. Our peer-reviewed scientific approach allows us to invent or acquire novel technologies and develop them to maturity through our operating subsidiaries. With a keen emphasis on collaborations with academic, municipal, and commercial organizations and associations, BioLargo has proven itself with over 80 awarded grants and numerous pilot projects. We monetize through direct sales, recurring service contracts, licensing agreements, strategic joint venture formation and/or the sale of the IP. Several of our technologies are commercially available and are advancing as disrupters in their respective markets. See our website at www.BioLargo.com.
Contact Information
Dennis P. Calvert
President and CEO, BioLargo, Inc.
888-400-2863
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