Ultra Guard(TM) wins World's Largest submersible CSO pumping station Contract
Service Systems International Ltd.
OTC/BB: SVSY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ultra Guard(TM) wins World's Largest submersible CSO pumping station Contract
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, October 6, 1999:
Service Systems International Ltd.'s (OTCBB: SVSY) subsidiary, UV Systems Technology Inc, announces that it has been awarded another world scale project.
Toronto's fifty million dollar Western Beaches project is intended to resolve a problem that challenges many metropolitan centers in the world. Given that Toronto has one of the oldest sewer systems in North America it did not have sewer lines that separated sewage and storm water flows until recently. Separated sewer lines would allow rainwater to be channeled away from the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Consequently, like other cities with combined sewer lines, storm events overloaded the wastewater treatment plant resulting in the discharge of untreated combined sewer overflows (CSO). The untreated overflows caused closures of Toronto's "discharge outfall area" beaches during bathing season (May to September). While other communities worldwide are evaluating options to suit site-specific issues, Toronto takes a leadership role through its novel approach. Given the lack of surface area in this densely populated city, constructing holding tanks above ground to store large surge volumes for later treatment was not feasible. Instead, after invitation for proposal to a variety of construction/engineering consortia, the solution proposed by McNally Frontier Joint Venture (MFJV) was retained. A four kilometer, three-meter diameter, storage tunnel would be built 40 meters below grade. Construction would also include three, twenty-five meter diameter, shafts one of which would host the pumping station and UV disinfection equipment. The design-build contract awarded by Toronto to MFJV had a provision that the contractor also maintains the CSO disinfection equipment for five years. The mechanical contractor for the joint venture, Bennett Mechanical, would be responsible for the choice and operation of the UV system. Other disinfection technologies, such as the Trojan UV 4000(TM), Calgon's medium-pressure high-intensity system and Infilco-Degremont's (IDI) low-pressure low-intensity systems, were considered by the contractor but were ultimately rejected given the obvious benefits of Ultra Guard(TM) for this application.
Ultra Guard(TM) was chosen due to a number of factors relevant to this application:
1. High Performance in very challenging wastewater. Typically CSO fluids have poorer transmissivity, higher solids concentrations and a larger particle size distribution than secondary or tertiary wastewaters. Ultra Guard(TM)'s patented reactor chamber is instrumental in delivering UV energy to the solids associated contaminants more effectively and allows it to outperform other systems in similar applications. Ultra Guard(TM)'s demonstrated ability to treat primary wastewater (Rosemere, Quebec) exemplified its capacity to handle the poor transmissivity and high solids concentrations expected in this application.
2. Given that CSO flows are sporadic/intermittent surge events, equipment requiring less time for the on/off (heat-up/cool-down) cycle is more responsive and requires less storage. Ultra Guard(TM) can deliver the required dose for disinfection within five minutes of turning on the switch compared to approximately forty minutes for other systems.
3. Given that the UV equipment would be placed in an excavated room in the pumping station shaft the equipment had to:
-Be flood proof/submersible
-Be reliable/require little maintenance
-Be intrinsically safe, in case of gas build up from possible septic conditions within the shaft
-Have a Small footprint to minimize excavation costs
Ultra Guard(TM) typically requires one-third the number of lamps of medium-pressure high-intensity systems and one-thirtieth the number of standard low-pressure lamps. The needs of this project only required 30 Ultra Guard(TM) lamps at a capital cost of Cdn$750,000 (taxes included).
Peter Z. Colak, Vice President, Sales & Marketing UV Systems Technology Inc. says "The Los Angeles Sanitation District report and consultant's evaluation for the Peterborough project identified Ultra Guard(TM)'s significant energy advantage over the present benchmark for energy efficiency. However the buying decision for the Western Beaches project goes beyond the lower O&M costs of our Technology. It is predominantly based on performance and other CSO application-specific considerations. This is an exciting opportunity in that we have a world scale plant to showcase our abilities. Furthermore this gives the City the opportunity to gain in depth experience with a Technology that may result in millions of dollars saving if it were adopted in other of its plants presently using chemicals. Ultra Guard(TM)'s Production Demonstration Unit (PDU) test last September at Toronto's Humber plant indicated positive results. The City presently disinfects more than 400 million gallons of wastewater per day. Additionally, the CSO market is on the verge of opening up and municipalities are looking for efficient technologies that have a demonstrated record of performance in this application. Ultra Guard(TM) is proud to have been chosen over other UV disinfection options by Canada's largest City and recognizes the possibility for this ground-breaking application to result in additional awards".
**Certain of the foregoing information are forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the company, and are subject to a number of risks and other factors which could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Among such factors are: general business and economic conditions, customer acceptance of and demand for the Company's products, the Company's overall ability to design, test, and introduce new and improved products on a timely basis, regulatory constraints, and the risk factors listed from time to time in documents filed by the Company with the SEC.
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