VIVA MFC

About

VIVA MFC is the most energy-efficient and intelligent Wastewater Treatment solution. The Mesopotamians created sewers about 6 thousand years ago. That was a major innovation at the time. But sewers down't treat waste - they merely move waste away from where people live and grow food. The problem with sewers was that as societies grew, the amount of waste damages life in bodies of water where the sewage is sent. In 1914, two young men from England created a new technology to solve that problem: blowing air into the wastewater. Microbes break down organic waste, but they need to breathe (using the same metabolic process that humans use to breathe.) For over a century, the core treatment process (Secondary Treatment - also called Aeration) has been the primary treatment modality, but it comes with drawbacks: high energy-intensity and no real data on actual treatment, without using daily chemical testing. Despite incremental energy efficiencies over the last 105 years,, the process is still very energy-intensive. Aeration is responsible for 4% of US electricity in the US. For a wastewater plant (municipal and industrial), Secondary treatment typically consumes from 50-85% of their total energy use. And until now, there has not been an alternative. VIVA MFC reduces Secondary Wastewater Treatment use by 85-90%, and also generates clean DC power. VIVA MFC is the only Secondary Treatment that provides real-time, continuous treatment data. VIVA MFC also reduces Nitrogen in wastewater by ~35%, with no additional energy required. (Nitrogen is a serious pollutant and plants have mandates to remediate Nitrogen. However, Aeration is also required to remove nitrogen, and that process is 4X more energy intensive than organic waste treatment. VIVA MFC is modular and can retrofit to nearly any type of equipment infrastructure, for quicker installation and lower cost. Our patented quick-start inoculation shortens the startup period for new systems (which can often takes weeks). Our extensive piloting includes industrial and municipal treatment. The best perspective for our results is a 10K gal/day pilot that ran for two years in the northern US. The plant itself is already quite energy-efficient compared to the norm. This 12M Gal/Day plant uses Fine Bubble Aeration, currently perhaps the most widely-used, energy-efficient treatment technology available. Yet, that plant uses 1800 MWh every year, just for aeration. The VIVA pilot demonstrated that VIVA would reduce annual energy use from 1800 MWh to 160 MWh, while also generating an additional 50-80 MWh/year of clean DC power. VIVA MFC also provides an unprecedented asset - continuous, real-time treatment data. VIVA MFC is continuously logging performance data. The signals track treatment rate and alert the plant to biological and mechanical problems in the system without relying on costly chemical tests that take over 5 days to get results. We're testing our commercial prototype VIVA Module at two customer sites (both high-strength waste, direct dischargers); the pilots will allow us to identify any needed upgrades prior to launching our commercial product in Q3 2022.