Ovivo and Microdyn-Nadir form a strategic partnership to accelerate growth in the U.S. MBR market
Ovivo has signed a multi-year agreement with Microdyn-Nadir to service the U.S. membrane bioreactor market. The agreement secures access to BIO-CEL® membrane technology and includes a collaborative venture to build private-label membrane equipment (OVTM).
Combining Ovivo system integration expertise with the Microdyn membrane manufacturing knowledge is expected to rapidly drive innovation, increase quality, reduce costs and improve delivery times. In one of the fastest growing segments of the wastewater treatment industry, Ovivo will now be positioned as a clear leader in the U.S. market.
MBR systems are considered the best available treatment (B.A.T.) or the most advanced technology in the wastewater industry. They have also become the technology of choice for upgrading, expanding and retrofitting outdated or failing facilities. For these reasons and others, the demand for MBR has steadily increased over the last 10 years. However, the rate of growth has been limited by misconceptions about cost of ownership and membrane life. The new Ovivo-Microdyn partnership will address both of these issues by offering BulletProofTM OVTM membrane units equipped with BIO-CEL® technology and integrated into Ovivo® MBR systems.
As part of the new partnership, Microdyn has agreed to build a second production line for BIO-CEL® membranes. The new line will most likely be located in Austin, Texas, in cooperation with Ovivo U.S. operations, with production set to begin in January 2017.
'Local market presence is key to being a meaningful player in North America', Walter Lamparter
'We are delighted to extend our partnership with Microdyn and to collaborate closely with them in providing highly-effective MBR systems to our clients,' said Marc Barbeau, Ovivo’s President and Chief Executive Officer. 'Their new production line near our U.S. operations should provide us with more innovation flexibility and agility for our MBR solutions, in a constantly evolving environment.'
Ovivo will benefit from the new line and so will its partner, Microdyn. 'Local market presence is key to being a meaningful player in North America,' says Walter Lamparter, CEO at Microdyn. 'With our second BIO-CEL® line, we will be able to minimise freight costs and realise shorter delivery times.'
What makes BIO-CEL® technology different than the flat-plate system previously used by Ovivo is the design. Microdyn flat sheets take 60% less raw material to make than plates and production is fully automated. From an operational standpoint, the flexible sheets are also less susceptible to damaging debris and clogging that can occur with plates. Dennis Livingston, Ovivo MBR Director, stated that, 'out of the seven different membrane technologies we’ve introduced to the U.S. market, the trajectory of acceptance is incredibly steep for the OVTM using BIO-CEL®. In less than 24 months, we already have 14 plants under construction or in operation using the OVTM and have been pre-selected for three large projects with rated capacities of approximately 16,000m3/day, 20,000m3/day and 40,000m3/day, respectively.'
In North America, Ovivo has some 300 employees with 80 already serving the MBR market. Ovivo has supplied MBR solutions to over 250 projects and is now commissioning one of the largest MBR systems in the world at Canton, OH. The MBR Group located in Austin, Texas, has numerous patents regarding the MBR process and includes a team of senior mechanical designers and engineers with expertise to design OVTM membrane unit components.