Case Studies & Lab Reports

Field installations and treatability work.

Selected projects across electroplating, hard chrome, radiator repair, oil & gas, food processing, and site water treatment. Independent lab analysis throughout — Caro Labs (Kelowna), Eco-Tech Laboratories (Kamloops), and International Metallurgical & Environmental (IME).

Featured

Powell Water E-Cell installation at Joe's Plating, Santa Barbara

Specialty Plating · Santa Barbara, CA

Joe's Plating: 800 gal/day to 60 gal/month.

A specialty metal plater facing continual scrutiny from the city sanitation district installed a 3 gpm Powell Water E-Cell. The shop now operates with a zero-discharge permit; rinse water is recycled. Operating cost: $0.002 per gallon.

Electroplating · Zero Discharge 2001 — ongoing

All reports.

PPI chromate plating shop raw waste water at pH 2.15, dark blue with high chromium loading

Chromate Plating · April 2002

PPI Chromate: dark blue waste to compliance

KB-1 SME treatment on chromate plating waste with high Cr⁶⁺ (590 mg/L) and zinc loading. Full treatment procedure with photographic documentation.

KB-1 / SME IME Labs
Hard chrome treatability test certificate of analysis from IME

Hard Chrome · June 2002

Rotorchrome stripper tank: Cr⁶⁺ 6,500 to <0.01 mg/L

Dual treatability test (#4TT0514 and #5TT0514) on stripper tank and floor waste water. Two-step Cr⁶⁺ reduction followed by KB-1 encapsulation. Treated sludge leachate passes all regulatory limits.

KB-1 / SME IME Labs
ORL radiator repair shop raw waste water sample

Radiator Repair · August 2002

ORL waste water: mixed metals at pH 5.17

Bench treatability on waste wash and process water with copper, lead, zinc, aluminum, and phosphate loading. Documented start-to-finish treatment procedure.

KB-1 / SME IME Labs
Nickel rinse water raw sample at pH 6.51

Nickel Plating · All Brite

Nickel rinse: PW E-Cell, no pH adjustment

Treatability test on nickel rinse water to develop a recycling treatment procedure. Successfully treated without pH adjustment, simplifying equipment requirements.

Powell Water E-Cell Caro Labs
Powell Water 1.5 gpm E-Cell unit processing oily water

Heavy Oil · Northern Alberta

SAGD process water: hydrocarbons, Ba, Sr

Treatability study for a Calgary-based heavy oil producer. Combined boiler blow-down and SAGD process water; targets included extractable petroleum hydrocarbons and dissolved barium and strontium.

Powell Water E-Cell Powell Water Lab
Site pond water raw sample with red coloration

Site Water · Holding Pond

Company pond water: recycling test

PW E-Cell treatment on holding pond water with red coloration. Treated without pH adjustment; dark green to black floc precipitates rapidly. Treated water suitable for recycle.

Powell Water E-Cell Treatability Study
Powell Water E-Cell setup for food processing plant water bacteria reduction test

Food Processing · January 2006

Food plant effluent: 100% bacteria reduction

Test on total plant effluent, hot wash water, ambient wash water, and cold water. APC reduced from 118 million cfu/g to 280; coliform from 65 million to 10; salmonella eliminated.

Powell Water E-Cell Caro Labs
Stormwater batch treatment system

Stormwater · City of Redmond, WA

Batch SME stormwater system

Full-scale batch system developed with Aero Construction Company. Reviewed by Washington state and City of Redmond officials including water quality monitoring and bioassay testing. 100–150 gpm effective rate.

SME / Stormwater State Review
Kelowna Electroplating letter

Press · Kelowna Electroplating

KEP customer letter

Customer reference from Kelowna Electroplating regarding treatment results and equipment operation.

Reference Letter Archive

Each report includes raw vs. treated lab data, treatment procedure, and full photographic documentation. Contact us if you need the original lab certificates or a treatability study on your own waste stream.

Treatability Study

Want one of these for your shop?

Send us a sample and a description of your operation. We run bench-scale treatability work in our shop and arrange independent lab analysis. Most studies take one to two weeks.

Location
Ponoka, Alberta · Canada