CHARDON, OH, Feb. 23, 2010 -- An industry leader in innovative and sustainable mineral applications is launching a new subsidiary focused on improving the performance of engineered media in filtration services for surface water, ground water, and municipal and industrial wastewater.
Fairmount Minerals Ltd. has served the water treatment industry for decades through subsidiaries Best Sand Corporation and Wedron Silica Company, suppliers of sand and gravel filtration media for municipal and industrial water filtration. The new Ohio-based company, Fairmount Water Solutions, will combine the expertise and technology developed through these ventures with technology licensed from Kinetico Incorporated, a leading manufacturer of water treatment systems, also based in Ohio.
"Fairmount Minerals has 14 company-wide sustainability teams focused on ways our company can contribute to the most pressing issues of our time," explained Chuck Fowler, Fairmount Minerals president and CEO. "One of those, the Clean Water team, has taught us to appreciate the growing importance of potable water. From that research and our work with filtration sand and gravel we've identified a need for increased media performance and better technology support in the municipal and industrial water filtration markets."
With its strategic focus to expand the company's presence in the water filtration industry, Fairmount Water Solutions is introducing Macrolite® Engineered Ceramic Media, an ultra-performance material with remarkable surface area and particle consistency that dramatically enhances filtering efficiency.
Developed for filtration applications that demand high flow rates and increased effluent quality, Macrolite media spheres optimize filtration performance with two key features: relatively uniform physical properties that allow flow rates of up to 10 gpm/ft" and an expanded surface area that promotes colloidal attachment. Together these effects can allow a bed of Macrolite media to filter down to the 3 micron level, compared to 10 microns for a conventional aggregate bed.
In new bed installations versus conventional media, Macrolite allows users to minimize bed size, reduce equipment footprint and lower capital costs. Backwash energy requirements are also lower than those of conventional filtration.
Macrolite also forms a critical barrier to cyst contaminants such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. It can remove significantly more cyst-based media than other conventional aggregate-media.
"The addition of Macrolite media to its proven portfolio of sand and gravel filtration media will position Fairmount Water Solutions as a key industry player in industrial and municipal wastewater filtration," said Dave Chew, Director of Sales and Marketing for Fairmount Water Solutions. "We're looking forward to helping system managers increase facility performance and lower plant operating costs through more efficient filtration media technologies."
Chew is a veteran Kinetico executive hired by Fairmount as part of the license agreement. He will be joined on the Fairmount Water Solutions leadership team by General Manager Dana Cooper, previously Director of Business Excellence for Fairmount Minerals.
For more information about Fairmount Water Solutions and its Macrolite product, please refer to the company's web site at www.fmwater.com or call customer service at (800) 237-4986.
Fairmount Minerals Ltd., headquartered in Chardon, Ohio, is one of the largest producers of industrial sand and coated sand products in the North America. We are committed to consistently and cost effectively meeting customers requirements through the development and marketing of the highest quality silica, lake and bank sand products. Our mission is to deliver solutions while working to ensure the preservation of the environment and the responsible use of our natural resources.
Fairmount place great emphasis on its global responsibilities and strives to exceed Sustainable Development practices and expectations set out by the UN Global Compact. Our Sustainable Development Principles: Meet the needs of the present without compromising the future. Fairmount strives to exceed standard practices and expectations in ensuring that our actions consider the impact on each of the 3 pillars of sustainability: People, Planet, and Prosperity.
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